Shear-Induced Orientational Order in a Polystyrene/Benzene-d6 Solution As Observed by 2H NMR

Abstract
Using a home-built Couette-type shear cell we studied the behavior of a concentrated solution of polystyrene in benzene-d6 under shear. Deuterium NMR revealed a shear-dependent splitting of the benzene-d6 signal, indicating partial orientation of the polystyrene due to shear forces. Our preliminary results show a linear relationship between the order parameter Szz of the benzene molecule and the shear rate gamma for the interval 0 s-1 </= gamma < 400 s-1.