Open AccessQuantification of branching in disordered materials
Author(s) -
Kulkarni A. S.,
Beaucage G.
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
journal of polymer science part b: polymer physics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.65
H-Index - 145
eISSN - 1099-0488
pISSN - 0887-6266
DOI - 10.1002/polb.20794
Subject(s) - branching (polymer chemistry) , ceramic , rheology , polymer , materials science , characterization (materials science) , transmission electron microscopy , polymer science , neutron scattering , fractal , size exclusion chromatography , scattering , chemical physics , nanotechnology , chemistry , composite material , physics , nuclear magnetic resonance , optics , mathematics , mathematical analysis , enzyme
The phenomenon of structural branching is ubiquitous in a wide array of materials: polymers, ceramic aggregates, polymeric networks, and gels. Branching has a strong influence on the structure–property relationships of these materials. Despite the interdisciplinary importance and decades of effort, the analytical description and quantification of branching are weak. Existing techniques for polymers based on size exclusion chromatography and rheology are, at best, qualitative, and quantitative characterization techniques such as nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy (for ceramic aggregates) have limitations in providing routine quantification. For ceramic aggregates, theoretical work has dominated, and only a few publications on analytical studies exist to support the theory. Small‐angle scattering of X‐rays and neutrons can be used to quantify the branch content through application of concepts native to fractal geometry. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 44: 1395–1405, 2006