STABILITY ANALYSIS AND SCATTERING PROPERTIES OF CHARGED CROSS-LINKED BLENDS IN SOLUTION

The phase behavior and scattering properties of crosslinked charged po lymer blends in solution are examined. De Gennes' analogy between the effects of crosslinks in a network and electrostatic charges in a diel ectric medium on the scattering properties and the phase behavior of c rosslinked polymer blends is used. This analogy is extended to include the effects of screening in order to improve its agreement with the e xperimental data in the small q range. The excluded volume interaction s are explicitely introduced through the blob model. The enhancement o f compatibility of the mixture and the increase of its rigidity consta nt are evaluated in certain cases. The limit of neutral polymers is di scussed because it corresponds to the case of charged mixtures in the presence of excess salt. The kinetics of the microphase separation tra nsition is briefly discussed. A dynamical model including the long ran ge hydrodynamic interaction is presented. The relaxation frequency of the stable modes and the growth rate of unstable ones are also conside red.