Dynamic structure factor for random copolymers investigated by neutron spin echo

Endo, Hitoshi; Takano, Atsushi*

To study dynamics of polymers on the molecular level, it is necessary to perform experiments in the wide spatiotemporal scale. Neutron spin echo (NSE) technique allows us to access the time scale from sub-nanosecond to sub-microsecond with the length scale from sub-nanometer to sub-micrometer with relatively little efforts. Another important feature of the neutron scattering is deuterium labeling, i.e., with neutrons as probe, contrast variation techniques based on hydrogen/deuterium replacement can be used to modify the visibility of different component in the system. In this study, the dynamic structure factors of a linear random block copolymer with deuterated and protonated monomers were measured by NSE quantitatively, and were compared with those of the fully protonated polymer with the same polymerization degree. The observed dynamic structure factors have confirmed the high measurement accuracy of the NSE spectrometer in Japan.