ABSTRACT:The viscoelastic properties of concentrated solutions of poly(methyl methacrylate) in diethyl phthalate were measured by means of a concentric cylinder type rheometer and capillary viscometer.The Vogel parameters, ar and To were calculated from the temperature dependence of viscosity and the shift factor aT obtained from the time-temperature superposition. Moreover, the viscoelastic parameters characteristic of polymer liquids such as the zeroshear viscosity r;o, steady-state compliance J 0°, and entanglement compliance J2N were evaluated from the frequency dependence of the storage shear modulus G' and the loss modulus G".With decreasing concentration, the Vogel temperature To decreases at higher concentrations, but increases at lower concentrations after passing through a minimum at about 20 wt%. The temperature coefficient of the fractional free volume, ar, however, is almost constant at and above 20 wt%, and then rapidly increases with decreasing concentration. This particular concentration of 20 wt% is very near the critical concentration of entanglement coupling. r;o is proportional to w24.0, where w2 is the weight fraction of polymer, in the isofree-volume state, and this exponent 4.0 is equal to that for molecular weight, which was obtained from the molecular weight dependence of r;0• Both J0° and J~N are proportional to w2-2 , and Je0 is six times higher than J~N over the entire range of concentration where J2N can be evaluated.KEY WORDS Concentrated Solution / Entanglement Coupling / Poly(methyl methacrylate) / Steady-State Compliance / Viscoelasticity / The Vogel Parameters / In our previous papers 1 -5 the viscoelastic properties of the binary blends of polymer in molten state have been measured extensively, and significant conclusions has been obtained about the dependence of the rheological properties of amorphous polymers upon molecular weight distribution. The main conclusions are summarized as follows: The Vogel temperature T0 plotted against the weight fraction of the high molecular weight component, w2 , has a minimum at about w2=0.2, while the temperature coefficient of fractional free volume, a£, is almost constant over the entire range of w2 • The steady-* Present address: Sumitomo Chemical Co.,