A new relation between the intrinsic viscosity and the molecular mass of polymers derived from the blob model: determination of the statistical segment length of flexible polymers

Using the relation between the unperturbed dimensions parameter on one hand and the intrinsic viscosity and the statistical segment length of the polymers on the other, as predicted by the two-parameters theory, we have modified Hanʹs equation [Polymer, 20 (1979) 1083], which is derived from the blob theory. According to the proposed equation, plotting [η]/M1/2 versus M3ν−1.5, where ν is the exclude volume index, we obtain straight lines from the slopes of which we calculate the statistical segment length of flexible polymers. The value of ν is obtained from the value of the exponent of the Mark–Houwink–Sakurada equation. The proposed method is useful in the high molecular mass region in which the Stockmayer–Fixman–Burchard equation is not valid.