Theory of quasielastic light scattering of a ternary solution consisting of two homopolymers with arbitrary optical, hydrodynamic, and thermodynamic properties

Abstract

The temporal dependence of the time correlation function detected by quasielastic light (QEL) scattering in solution consisting of two homopolymers with arbitrary hydrodynamic and thermodynamic properties is investigated. New results appropriate for the ternary polymer solution in various concentrations are obtained. These new results should facilitate the analysis of the QEL scattering data of a ternary solution in any concentrations. Information about tracer diffusion coefficients of the constitutive polymers and their excluded volume interaction parameter is shown to be obtainable from the QEL experiment of the ternary polymer solution. Applications to ternary polymer solutions with one polymer isorefractive with the solvent, solutions with two polymers differing only in molecular weight, and solutions with two polymers having arbitrary refractive index increments are discussed. Clarification in regard to the ternary solution under the zero average contrast (ZAC) condition is also made. It is shown that under the ZAC condition, the autocorrelation function of the composition fluctuation in general decays with two exponentials, even at 1:1 symmetric composition.