In order to understand the formation of polymeric membranes or microcellular foams, phase separation phenomena in polymer solutions should be understood. The present review examines the progress made in the understanding of these phenomena, with emphasis on selected polymer-solvent systems. In the case of polymer-solvent systems, coarsening is of particular importance as it may come to dominate or overshadow spinodal decomposition effects within the first minute or few minutes of phase separation. In this article, some of the most important theoretical models of late stage of phase separation are reviewed, and recent experimental studies on coarsening in polymer-solvent systems are studied.

• Seung-Won Song((주)유공 대덕기술원) | 송승원