Scattering from polydisperse suspensions. Evaluation of two-parameter size distributions using photon correlation data

Abstract

A method is presented for analysing measurements made using a photon correlator of the light scattered by polydisperse suspensions of colloids or solutions of rigid macromolecules. Two-parameter distribution functions of the particle size may be fitted to the experimental data via analysis in terms of discrete averages of the particle translational diffusion coefficients and the square of the radii of gyration. The method is illustrated for the log–normal distribution and simple analytic expressions are derived for a variety of rigid particle shapes.