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Small‐Angle Neutron Scattering Studies of the Phase Behavior and Mesophases of Homopolymers, Block Copolymers and Complex Mixtures
Author(s) -
Mortensen K.,
Almdal K.,
Schwahn D.,
Bates F. S.
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
journal of applied crystallography
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.429
H-Index - 162
ISSN - 1600-5767
DOI - 10.1107/s0021889897001921
Subject(s) - mesoscopic physics , copolymer , materials science , neutron scattering , polymer , small angle x ray scattering , small angle neutron scattering , lyotropic , phase (matter) , scattering , small angle scattering , phase diagram , chemical physics , critical point (mathematics) , polymer chemistry , chemistry , condensed matter physics , optics , physics , organic chemistry , composite material , geometry , liquid crystalline , mathematics
Small‐angle scattering of X‐rays and neutrons are particularly powerful techniques for studying complex materials such as polymers, micellar solutions and lyotropic mesophases of amphiphilic molecules. In the present paper, we review some of the recent progress on polymer complex fluids made using small‐angle neutron scattering. These studies include examination of the phase behavior of binary polymers where fluctuations due to the free volume significantly renormalize the critical behavior. Block copolymers phase‐separate on the microscopic level given by the length scale of the polymer coils and form a variety of mesoscopic ordered phases. Blends of homopolymers and diblock copolymers show new physical phenomena where different critical behavior meets in a Lifshitz point. Block copolymers in selected solutions self‐assemble into micellar structures which provide the basis for ordered structures.