Nonequilibrium chemical potential and shear-induced migration of polymers in dilute solutions

We consider the contribution of a nonequilibrium chemical potential depending on the shear rate on shear-induced polymer migration. It is seen that this nonequilibrium contribution strongly enhances, above a threshold of polymer concentration and of shear rate, the migration of the polymer towards the regions with lower stress. This enhancement may explain why the migration rate experimentally observed is much higher than that predicted by constitutive laws where the nonequilibrium effects on the chemical potential are ignored.