Particle scattering in the rayleigh-debye- gans regime: Applications to polymer latexes and polymer-polymer concentrated dispersions

Abstract

In this chapter we have given an overview of the Rayleigh-Debye-Gans (RDG) theory applied in the analysis of Small Angle Scattering (SAS) data of different types of particle systems. First some useful derivations needed to analyze SAS data under the RDG regime for diluted as well as for concentrated particle systems were presented. We considered monodisperse as well as polydisperse systems of spherical and non-spherical particles. Then we presented some techniques for analyzing the SAS data in different contexts with the aim of gathering information about: particle size and shape, particle size distribution, particle concentration and some other useful characteristics of the particle systems. Finally we reported two applications of some of the models and methods described previously. In the first one we presented a series of results of a time resolving Small Angle Light Scattering study of a polymer blend in which particles are formed by a phase separation induced by polymerization. The second application is a simulation study aimed to analyze the limits of applicability of the RDG approximation for two commonly used polymer latexes.