M. Okada et al., Attenuation of concentration fluctuations after a quench to a temperature in the single-phase region, POLYMER, 43(2), 2002, pp. 329-335
Attenuation of concentration fluctuations in a polystyrene/poly(2-chlorosty
rene) blend after a quench from a temperature in the spinodal region to one
in the single-phase region was studied by using the time-resolved light sc
attering technique and a scanning electron microscope. The characteristic w
ave number q(m), where the maximum of the scattered light intensity was loc
ated, move towards smaller values during the attenuation process. The corre
sponding growth of the wave length of the dominant concentration fluctuatio
n was clearly observed by the electron microscope. The scattered light inte
nsities at small wave numbers were found to increase before they attenuated
. In the later period the power-law behavior q(m) similar to t(-0.3) was ob
served. The exponent was smaller than the value (0.5) obtained on the basis
of the non-linear theory by Akcasu and collaborators. (C) 2001 Elsevier Sc
ience Ltd. All rights reserved.