Kinetics of microphase separation of ramified polymer network of arbitrary topology

The aim of the present work is to quantitatively study the early kinetics of the microphase separation in ramified polymer blends, made of two incompatible polymers A and B, dissolved in a common good solvent. Use is made of an extended blob model used previously for the investigation of the static properties of such a transition. We are interested in the variation of the relaxation rate, versus the wave number q, the topological factor K-G, and the rigidity constant of the system, in the vicinity of the spinodal temperature. We first show that kinetics is entirely dominated by local motions, which are of Rouse type. Slow motions are absent because of the permanent presence of crosslinks. The mean conclusion is that the presence of the solvent necessitates a relaxation rates less important as compared as the mixture without solvent. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.