Abstract
The temperature dependence of the actual viscosity of dilute poly(β-naphthyl methacrylate) solutions was described by an Arrhenius expression according to Moore's treatment. The apparent activation energy of flow was found to be lower for solutions in benzene, toluene and tetralin than for solvent. In dioxane, a good solvent, the activation energy was nearly constant and close to that for the solvent. The pre-exponential terms were, in all cases, higher for solutions than for the solvents. The decrease in activation energy and increase in pre-exponential term are largely dependent on solvent power: the maximum effect is found in the poorest solvent. This behaviour is discussed in connection with the temperature dependence of the Mark-Houwink and of the Fox-Flory constants obtained from intrinsic viscosity data: the differences in the activation energy of flow and in the pre-exponential term between the solvent and the solutions are related to variation of coil expansion with temperature.