Concentration dependence of the effective viscosity of polymer solutions in small pores with repulsive or attractive walls

Polymer solutions are demonstrated to have apparent viscosities in small pores which depend on pore diameter (or the mean diameter of pore throats in irregular porous media) and which, therefore, can be considerably different from the viscosity of the same solution in an unbounded medium. The apparent viscosities in the pores can be greater or less than in bulk depending upon whether the pore wall is attractive or repulsive for the polymer. Specifically, if there is no adsorption (repulsive wall) we find that the solution viscosity is always less inside the pore than in bulk. On the other hand if the wall is attractive the apparent solution viscosity inside the pore may be greater or less, depending on the concentration of the flowing polymer solution. Data representing these effects are presented for aqueous solutions of hydrolyzed polyacrylamide and xanthan polysaccharide. The data are organized as suggested by a model recently proposed by Chauveteau for polymer solution flow in small pores.