Jp. Wilcoxon et al., LIGHT-SCATTERING INVESTIGATION OF PHASE-SEPARATION IN A MICELLE SYSTEM, Journal of non-crystalline solids, 172, 1994, pp. 1142-1150
A real-time, two-dimensional light scattering study is reported of the
evolution of structure in a two-component non-ionic micelle system du
ring phase separation via spinodal decomposition. The principal findin
g is that domain growth proceeds much slower than the cube root of tim
e prediction for simple binary fluids. In fact, the growth kinetics ca
n be empirically described as a stretched exponential approach to a pi
nned domain size. Although the kinetics are not yet understood, this a
nomalous behavior may be due to the ability of the spherical micelles
to reorganize into more complex structures. The domain structure also
shows some anomalies. Although at short times the expected structure f
actor for a critical quench is observed, at long times the structure f
actor crosses over to the off-critical form. However, in all cases the
average scattered intensity is proportional to the cube of the domain
size. These findings are discussed by comparison with standard theori
es of and experimental work on binary fluids.