Search results for "SMALL-ANGLE NEUTRON"

Anomalous pressure dependence of the structure factor in 1,4-polybutadiene melts: A molecular dynamics simulation study

2004

Neutron scattering has shown the first diffraction peak in the structure factor of a 1,4-polybutadiene melt under compression to move to larger q values as expected but to decrease significantly in intensity. Simulations reveal that this behavior does not result from loss of structure in the polymer melt upon compression but rather from the generic effects of differences in the pressure dependence of the intermolecular and intramolecular contributions to the melt structure factor and differences in the pressure dependence of the partial structure factors for carbon-carbon and carbon-deuterium intermolecular correlations. This anomalous pressure dependence is not seen for protonated melts.

Fractal approach in petrology: Combining ultra small angle (USANS), and small angle neutron scattering (SANS)

2000

Ultra small angle neutron scattering instruments have recently covered the gap between the size resolution available with conventional intermediate angle neutron scattering and small angle neutron scattering instruments on one side and optical microscopy on the other side. Rocks showing fractal behavior in over two decades of momentum transfer and seven orders of magnitude of intensity are examined and fractal parameters are extracted from the combined USANS and SANS curves.

Spherical microgel colloids - Hard spheres from soft matter

1998

While gels are usually considered to be soft materials, we demonstrate that it is possible to model hard sphere behaviour when the gel structure is confined to spherical objects of sizes in the colloidal range. We have measured the static structure factor of microgel spheres dispersed in good solvents, differing in size, crosslink density and swelling behaviour, by light scattering and small angle neutron scattering. Comparing with theoretical calculations for polydisperse hard spheres we show how the interactions in highly concentrated dispersions of spherical microgel colloids are determined by an interplay of the relative length of dangling polymer ends at the surface (determined by the …

Determination of the Composition of Mixed Hydrogenated and Fluorinated Micelles by Small Angle Neutron Scattering

1997

1983

The neutron scattering from mixtures of deuterated and undeuterated poly(ethylene oxide), (D-PEO, H-PEO), in the small angle and intermediate angle region has been measured in the melt. We found no indications of a molecular segregation. The value of molecular weight evaluated agreed with that obtained by other methods. For a sample with a molar mass of 120000 g/mol the radius of gyration 〈rw2〉1/2 was found to be 13,6 nm, which corresponds to a characteristic ratio of C = 6,9. The form factor of a single chain can be described by the Debye equation for a random coil with the same unperturbed dimensions. Our results are compared with rotational isomeric state calculations and measurements in…

Chain conformation and structure in amorphous polymers as revealed by X-ray, neutron, light and electron diffraction

1976

Abstract The physical structure of the melt, the supercooled melt, and the glassy state of amorphous polymers can be characterized by the chain conformation, the local order, and the morphology. The conformation was studied by small-angle neutron scattering. The local order was characterized by pair distribution functions which were derived from electron scattering curves. In addition, model calculations were used to gain information about short-range order. The morphology was studied by means of light scattering (density and anisotropy fluctuations), small-angle X-ray scattering (density fluctuations), and magnetic birefringence measurements (orientational order). Experiments were performe…

Structure and thermodynamics in polymer blends. Neutron scattering measurements on blends of poly(methyl methacrylate) and poly(styrene-co-acrylonitr…

1992

Abstract Neutron scattering on polymer blends of deutero-poly(methyl methacrylate) (D-PMMA) and poly(styrene-co-acrylonitrile) with 19 wt% acrylonitrile (PSAN-19) exhibits excess scattering for scattering vectors Q≲0.2 nm−1 if the volume fraction of D-PMMA is less than 0.5 and greater than 0.05. The range of occurrence and the amount of excess scattering depends to a certain degree on the procedure of sample preparation. If the excess scattering is eliminated by linear extrapolation from large to small Q in the Zimm representation, the residual scattering intensity in the small and intermediate Q-range can be interpreted by the mean field approach of de Gennes with a concentration-dependent…

Characterization of semicrystalline random copolymers by small-angle neutron scattering

1979

A new method is introduced to determine the degree of partitioning of noncrystallizable comonomer units (B units) between the two phases of a semicrystalline random copolymer. The method is based on the comparison of the intensities of small-angle neutron and x-ray scattering (SANS and SAXS, respectively). By this technique two quantities can be evaluated: the difference Δρ of the mass densities between the crystalline and the disordered regions, and the concentration fluctuations of the B units in the two phases. It is found that SANS is very sensitive to the presence of small amounts of B units if their scattering length is sufficiently different from that of the A units. This will be the…

Particle characterization using multiple scattering decorrelation methods: hard-sphere model system

2000

Applying static light scattering experiments, we characterize colloidal particles that are used as model hard-sphere systems in experiments investigating their crystallization kinetics. The particles comprise of a compact core of poly(methyl methacrylate) and short polymer hairs grafted onto the surface. We use a contrast variation procedure to determine the refractive index variation within the particles and observe that one component of the binary mixture used as a solvent penetrates the particles and masks completely the small polymer hairs. Making use of the determined refractive index variation, we obtain the average particle radius and its polydispersity from measurements of the parti…

Colloidal zeolites and zeolite membranes

2002

The synthesis of zeolite membranes and thin films using the secondary growth process is briefly described. In this process colloidal zeolite particles (sols) are prepared hydrothermally and then subsequently deposited on substrates to produce uniform layers of controlled thickness. In order to optimise this process, an understanding of the nature of the sols and an insight into the structure of the consolidated layer so formed, is required. Such studies are illustrated here with silicalite and zeolite A. The formation and growth of silicalite sols has been investigated in situ by small angle neutron scattering (SANS). SANS measurements on sols at progressively higher concentrations have pro…