Why Test The Viscosity Of Polymer Solutions?

Precise viscosity measurement with the Lovis 2000 M microviscometer is an efficient and smart way to determine a polymer's quality, which strongly depends on its molar mass and molecular chain length. Both influence the viscosity of a dilute polymer solution, which is also the subject of ASTM and ISO standards for various specific polymers.

When dissolving polymers in a solvent, the solution's viscosity is higher than that of the pure solvent. By this thickening effect a polymer’s molar mass can be specified. The higher the molar mass, the more viscous the solution. For most polymers there is a definite relationship between average molar mass and the relative increase of viscosity in dilute solution.

There are several ASTM and ISO standards that describe dilute solution viscosity procedures for specific polymers.