SANS analysis of the molecular order in poly(γ-benzyl L-glutamate)/deuterated dimethylformamide (PBLG/d-DMF) under shear and during relaxation

Abstract

Small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) has been used to measure the overall molecular alignment in solutions of PBLG/d-DMF during and after cessation of steady shear flow A new technique for resolving order parameters from two-dimensional SANS data is presented. Results of this analysis show that during the period of time after cessation of flow from the linear regime, the overall molecular alignment in the velocity-vorticity projection increases, confirming previous birefringence measurements.