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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 15 February 2011
We present the results of experimental and theoretical study of the orientational ordering of rigid rod like polymers in the presence of shear flow. Shear induced birefringence was measured to determine the dependence of orientational order parameter S=<3cos2θ−l>/2 on the shear rate at different values of the volume fraction. Experimental results are discussed in terms of an approximate solution of the rotational diffusion equation in the presence of shear flow based on the construction of the effective interaction energy.