V. Edel, EARLY AND LATE-STAGE PHASE-SEPARATION DYNAMICS OF POLYSTYRENE POLY(METHYL METHACRYLATE-STAT-CYCLOHEXYL METHACRYLATE) BLENDS/, Macromolecules, 28(18), 1995, pp. 6219-6228
The dynamics of phase separation after a temperature jump from the one
phase region into the two phase region has been studied on blends of
polystyrene (PS) and poly(methyl methacrylate-stat-cyclohexyl methacry
late) (PMsC) on different substrates. This system shows a lower critic
al solution temperature (LCST). The phase separation process followed
the mechanism of spinodal decomposition, and the early and late stages
could be resolved by using small angle light scattering(SALS). While
the early stage could be described by the theory of Cahn and Hilliard,
the time dependence of the scattering during the later stages of demi
xing could be described by power laws. From deviations of Porod's law
the interface thickness between two phases was estimated and a new sca
ling function was proposed.