Flow behavior of concentrated solutions of an SBS block copolymer

The non‐Newtonian viscosity of concentrated solutions of a styrene‐butadiene‐styrene, SBS, block copolymer was measured with a novel capillary viscometer. Polymer concentrations ranged from 0.165 to 0.306 g/cc. Apparent shear rates ranged from 1 to 105 sec−1. Five different solvents were employed. All of the flow curves can be reduced to a single master curve with the same shape exhibited by monodisperse polystyrenes and the Graessley theory. The shift factor for the shear rate axis, τ0, approximately parallels the Rouse relaxation time, τR, but shows a residual concentration and solvent dependence not predicted by the Rouse form. For different solvents at the same concentration, better solvents show a minimum relative zero shear viscosity, η0/ηs, and a maximum ratio τR/τ0. It is concluded that all solvent effects are not adequately incorporated into the zero shear viscosity for the purposes of constructing master plots; however, the shape of the master plot is not affected by the solvent or the polymer block structure.