Phase separation with multiple length scales in polymer mixtures induced by autocatalytic reactions.
A ternary polymer blend with two components photo-cross-linked independently in its miscible region undergoes phase separation, exhibiting morphology with multiple length scales. Contrary to the case of thermally induced phase separation, the morphology exhibits a unimodal-->multimodal transition. It is shown that these multiple length scales are caused by the inhomogeneous freezing kinetics of the cross-linking process. This inhomogeneity arises from the autocatalytic feedback driven by the couplings between concentration fluctuations and the photo-cross-linking reactions.
Tran-Cong
Q
Q
Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, Kyoto Institute of Technology, Matsugasaki, Kyoto 606-8585, Japan. qui@ipc.kit.ac.jp
Kawai
J
J
Nishikawa
Y
Y
Jinnai
H
H