Correlation between Shear Viscosity and Anisotropic Domain Growth during Spinodal Decomposition under Shear Flow

To investigate the influence of a simple shear flow on the late stage spinodal decomposition of a binary polymer blend, the shear viscosity and the domain growth have been studied by a combined rheo--small-angle-light-scattering technique. In a representation versus the applied strain, the viscosities as well as the structure deformation can be scaled on single curves for different shear rates. Both quantities show two characteristic crossovers at the same strain values. The behavior is compared with results of a recent computer simulation.