Condensed Matter Physics, 2004, vol. 7, No. 1(37), p.179-198, English
DOI:10.5488/CMP.7.1.179

Title: SCATTERING FROM RAMIFIED POLYMERIC SYSTEMS
Authors: M.Benhamou [m.benhamou@univh2m.ac.ma] (Laboratoire de Physique des Polym\{e}res et Ph\'{e}nom\{e}nes Critiques, Facult\'{e} des Sciences Ben M'sik, B.P. 7955, Casablanca, Morocco) , N.Ghaouar (Laboratoire de Physique des Polym\{e}res et Ph\'{e}nom\{e}nes Critiques, Facult\'{e} des Sciences Ben M'sik, B.P. 7955, Casablanca, Morocco; Laboratoire de Physique de La Mati\{e}re Molle, Facult\'{e} des Sciences de Tunis, Tunisia) , A.Gharbi (Laboratoire de Physique de La Mati\{e}re Molle, Facult\'{e} des Sciences de Tunis, Tunisia) , M.Benmouna (Max Planck Institute f\"{u}r Polymerforschung Postfach 3148, D-55021, Mainz, Germany)

Here, of great interest to us is a quantitative study of the scattering properties from ramified polymeric systems of arbitrary topology. We consider three types of systems, namely ramified polymers in solution, ramified polymer blends, or ternary mixtures made of two ramified polymers of different chemical nature immersed in a good solvent. To achieve the goal of the study, use is made of the Random Phase Approximation. First we determine the {\it\textbf exact} expression of the form factor of an ideal ramified polymer of any topology, from which we extract the exact expression of its gyration radius. Using the classical Zimm's formulae and the exact form factor, we determine all scattering properties of these three types of ramified polymeric systems. The main conclusion is that ramification of the chains induces drastic changes of the scattering properties.

Key words: colloids, macromolecular and polymer solutions, polymer melts, swelling, solubility, segregation, mixing phase separation
PACS: 82.70.Dd, 61.25.Hq, 64.75.+g

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