ISSN:
0934-0866
Keywords:
Chemistry
;
Industrial Chemistry and Chemical Engineering
Source:
Wiley InterScience Backfile Collection 1832-2000
Topics:
Mechanical Engineering, Materials Science, Production Engineering, Mining and Metallurgy, Traffic Engineering, Precision Mechanics
,
Process Engineering, Biotechnology, Nutrition Technology
Notes:
Dynamic light scattering has become a standard technique of investigating colloidal suspensions and polymer solutions. The experimental field autocorrelation function ĝ1 (t) can often be well modelled by a Laplace transform relating ĝ1 (t) to a distribution of decay times A(τ). In simple systems A(τ) can usually be directly related to a distribution of molecular weights, particle sizes, diffusion coefficients or other physically relevant quantities, With constrained regularization methods, the parameter-free estimation of A(τ) has become straightforward. In complex systems, the resulting A(τ) may contain several components the identification of which is not always obvious. The problem often originates in a superposition of diffusive and angle-independent components that have different variations of their respective decay times with the scattering vector. A method is presented based on a simultaneous fit of several autocorrelation functions measured at several different scattering angles, which, using simple and reasonable assumptions, yields a robust analysis of the spectra of decay times. The application of the method is illustrated on simulated autocorrelation functions and also on real experimental data obtained on a variety of different polymer systems.
Additional Material:
5 Ill.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ppsc.19960130507
