Scattering properties of a model bicontinuous structure with a well defined length scale

Abstract

Cahn’s scheme for simulating the morphology of isotropic spinodal decomposition is adapted to a mathematical model of bicontinuous partitioning of space by interfacial pairs that may be useful for problems of microdispersed and microporous systems distinguished by a morphology with a well defined length scale, including surfactant films in microemulsions and coatings in porous media. Real-space and scattering properties are analyzed, and qualitatively the model accounts for the principal features of recent contrast variation small-angle neutron-scattering experiments on Winsor III type microemulsions.