Monitoring kinetic processes in polymer solutions with time dependent static light scattering (TDSLS)

An overview of recent developments in TDSLS and auxiliary techniques is given. This includes background theory, and examples of results and applications for online monitoring of polymerization reactions, kinetics and structural determinations from degrading polymers, aggregation, and dissolution of dry polymer powders. Also, automatic dilution techniques allow for continuous characterization of the equilibrium states of multi-component solutions. Illustrations are given for the case where the change in polyelectrolyte dimensions, interactions and hydrodynamics can be probed.