Abstract
Recent developments in small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) investigations on polymer gels are reviewed by encompassing (i) volume phase transition and microphase separation, (ii) inhomogeneities in polymer gels, (iii) pressure dependence of hydrophobic interaction and (iv) structural characterization of super-tough gels. These developments owe much to the understanding of gel inhomogeneities and advances in the precision analyses of SANS, such as the contrast variation method coupled with singular value decomposition and the accurate evaluation of incoherent scattering intensity. As one of the fruitful outcomes, deformation mechanisms in various types of super-tough gels are elucidated.
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Acknowledgements
I thank the collaborators, Professors Toyoichi Tanaka, Yitzhak Rabin, Kohzo Ito, Sadahito Aoshima, Dr Sergey Panykov, Dr Fumiyoshi Ikkai, Dr Satoshi Okabe, Dr Irina Nasimova, Dr Kazutoshi Haraguchi, Dr Hitoshi Endo, Dr Takeshi Karino, Dr Noboru Osaka and other colleagues in my laboratory. I also acknowledge the financial support of the Ministry of Education, Science, Sports and Culture, Japan (Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (A), 2006–2008, No. 18205025 and 2010–2012, No. 22245018, and for Scientific Research on Priority Areas, 2006–2010, No. 18068004). The SANS experiment was performed with the approval of the Institute for Solid State Physics, The University of Tokyo, at the Japan Atomic Energy Agency, Tokai, Japan.
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Shibayama, M. Small-angle neutron scattering on polymer gels: phase behavior, inhomogeneities and deformation mechanisms. Polym J 43, 18–34 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/pj.2010.110
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