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Midpoint scission of macromolecules in dilute solution in turbulent flow

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Abstract

Drag reduction by polymer additives is commonly explained in terms of nearly complete extension of the macromolecules by high extensional strain rate regions of irrotational flow associated with turbulent bursting1–5. The intermittent nature of the bursting process means that the polymer conformation cannot be measured directly by optical methods such as light scattering or birefringence. We have studied the degradation of narrow molecular weight distribution (MWD) polystyrene in a turbulent flow device which has been carefully constructed to minimize all sources of extensional flow except for that encountered in the turbulent flow itself. We report here the results of size exclusion chromatography of the degraded samples which show that chain scission occurs in a narrow distribution around the chain midpoint, indicating that the macromolecules are highly extended when they break. This represents the most convincing evidence yet for high chain elongation of polymers in a turbulent flow.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 02139, USA

    A. F. Horn & E. W. Merrill

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  1. A. F. Horn
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  2. E. W. Merrill
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Horn, A., Merrill, E. Midpoint scission of macromolecules in dilute solution in turbulent flow. Nature 312, 140–141 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1038/312140a0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/312140a0

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