Rheological properties of anisotropic poly(<i>para</i>‐benzamide) solutions

Abstract A study has been made of the viscous properties of poly( para ‐benzamide) (PBA) solutions in dimethyl acetamide, which undergo a transition from an isotopic to an anisotropic (liquid‐crystal) state at a definite concentration C * . The polymer solutions behave in many respects (as regards the concentration and temperature dependence of viscosity, etc.) like solutions of low molecular weight compounds forming a liquid crystal phase, although the transitions are less pronounced in the polymer solutions owing to their polydispersity. It is shown that the viscometric method, being extremely sensitive to C * , is convenient for determining phase diagrams of anisotropic polymer solutions. The values of C * as related to the molecular weight of PBA have been determined, and a general criterion for transition from isotropic to anisotropic solutions established; the latter has the form (C M̄ ) * ≈ 1.3 × 10 5 at 20°C. This criterion is in line with the condition for the formation of the liquid‐crystal structure in a dispersion of rodlike particles as proposed by Flory. Generalized concentration dependences of viscosity have been plotted by reducing concentration to C * and viscosity, to the maximum viscosity at the phase transition point. In investigating the flow properties of PBA solutions we revealed the existence of a yield point in the range of low shear stresses, and an intersection of the flow curves of solutions of different concentration at high shear stresses, which excludes a generalized representation of the flow curves in reduced ordinary‐type coordinates.