Quasielastic-light-scattering study of the movement of particles in gels: Topological structure of pores in gels

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Abstract
A quasielastic-light-scattering study of polystyrene latex particles embedded inside a random system (in this case, polyacrylamide solutions and gels) was carried out. By measuring the correlation functions of the scattered-light intensity from suspended probe particles, structures of pores in gels were characterized. In the vicinity of the gelation threshold, the movement of particles in the gel may be quite different from normal diffusion, because of the interference from polymer networks. In this report the relation between the diffusion process and the correlation length of the system is discussed. The characteristic exponent of the topological structure of pores in gels at the threshold is also estimated.