Theory of semi-dilute polymer solutions

Abstract

Some properties of semi-dilute poor and good solvent polymer solutions are examined within the framework of the field-theoretic formulism. The uncontrollable polydispersivity inherent in the field-theoretic formulism is shown to produce no errors if the quantity under investigation is molecular weight independent. A renormalization group cross-over calculation correct to order ε is performed to obtain an expression for the osmotic pressure which holds in both poor and good solvent limits for the special case when the ternary cluster integral vanishes.