Coalescence-induced coalescence and dimensional crossover during the phase separation in ternary surfactant/polymer/water mixtures.

We studied the separation process in the ternary mixtures of nonionic surfactant (C(12)E(6), hexaethylene glycol monododecyl ether), polymer (PEG = poly(ethylene glycol)), and water. The separation process of PEG/water rich domains from the surfactant rich matrix was observed by the optical microscopy. From the morphological analysis, we determined the size of the domains as a function of time.

Phase separation in binary polymer/liquid crystal mixtures: network breaking and domain growth by coalescence-induced coalescence.

A small-angle light scattering (SALS) technique together with optical microscopy observation are used to investigate phase separation kinetics in films of low molecular weight thermotropic liquid crystal (4-cyano-4'-n-octyl-biphenyl, 8CB) with flexible polymer (polystyrene, PS). The growth of domains is studied as a function of time, film thickness, and film composition. The light scattering results are correlated with the images obtained by optical microscopy observation.