Division of Information Technology, Engineering and the Environment
Laser Light Scattering and Materials Science Group

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  • Research interests
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    • Dielectric spectroscopy
    • Dynamic light scattering (DLS)
    • Particle charging in nonpolar media
    • Phase analysis light scattering (PALS)
    • Static light scattering (SLS)
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Static Light Scattering (SLS)

Classical light scattering involves measurement of the total scattered intensity of light as a function of angle, concentration, or both. This is commonly summarised in a Zimm plot, which is described by the equation

Here c is the concentration, R(q,c) is the excess Rayleigh ratio, K is the magnitude of the scattering vector, and H is an optical constant. Scattered light intensities are measured at several angles for each solution concentration and the pure solvent. It is then possible to determine the molecular weight, M_w, the radius of gyration, r_g, and the second virial coefficient, A₂, for the species under investigation.

A description of a light scattering apparatus is given below.

Our group has a Brookhaven Instruments light scattering instrument which contains a goniometer (BI-200SM) and autocorrelator (BI-2030). This apparatus is capable of measuring Zimm, Debye and Berry plots.

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