Connectivity and topology of a phase-separating bicontinuous structure in a polymer mixture: Direct measurements of coordination number, inter-junction distances and Euler characteristic

The connectivity of the bicontinuous structures of a polymer mixture in the late stage of SD was studied by thinning one of the domains and analuzing the resultant skeletal network structure. Topological aspects of the phase-separated structures were examined. Time-evolutions of the geometrical parameters were further used to test the validity of the dynamical scaling hypothesis in the late stage SD of the binary polymer blend. Overall, significant results were obtained.