Low-fraction polymer solutions show peculiar behaviour when quenched deeply into the unstable region of the phase diagram. Whereas in a quenched off-symmetric binary liquid the minority phase forms droplets in a matrix of the majority phase, in the polymer solution it is the majority phase (i.e., the solvent) that rapidly forms droplets in a matrix of a mixed polymer-solvent phase. As the solvent is gradually squeezed out of this matrix, a polymer network or transient gel remains which eventually breaks up under its own stress. In the final stable state, the minority phase (i.e., the polymer) forms droplets against a backdrop of the majority phase, just as for the off-symmetric binary liquid. A similar evolution has been observed in the phase separation of some colloidal systems.
Dynamical asymmetry between a fast moving solvent and a slow moving solute. The bulk modulus of the solute also plays an important role. We want to simulate the various stages of this so-called “viscoelastic phase separation” process on a mesoscopic scale, using a particle-based simulation method, with the aims of improving the understanding of the process and of elucidating the parameters entering the current phenomenological model.
Meer weten?
Wil je meer informatie over de inhoud van het dossier of in contact worden gebracht met de kennisaanbieder? Neem dan contact met ons op.