Abstract
An instrument for measuring the oscillatory electric birefringence properties of synthetic polymer dissolved in organic solvents has been designed and constructed. Novel features of the design include an in situ variable inter-electrode spacing Kerr cell and a double-beam optical train. The accessible frequency range extends from below 1 Hz to at least 100 kHz, with electric fields variable up to approximately 6000 V cm-1 (peak-to-peak). Measurements are made with a powerful computerized data acquisition and processing system, based on an approach previously used for viscoelastic and oscillatory flow birefringence experiments. Preliminary results on a viscous liquid, Aroclor-1248, indicate that time-temperature superposition holds to reduced frequencies of at least 100 MHz. Comparison with theoretical predictions for rigid rod suspensions suggests that this liquid exhibits relaxation behavior with a time constants of ca. 6 ns at 25.00°C.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 183-197 |
| Number of pages | 15 |
| Journal | Analytica Chimica Acta |
| Volume | 189 |
| Issue number | C |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 1986 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:The authors acknowledge helpful discussions with Dr. P. J. Barbara. We are grateful to Dr. J. L. Schrag for providing the Aroclor-1248, and to S. Amelar for the thermistor calibration. The work was supported by the National Science Foundation under grant DMR 8319291.