Interplay between Aggregation and Coalescence of Polymeric Particles: Experimental and Modeling Insights

In the present work, the aggregation behavior of polymeric particles possessing different glass transition temperatures (i.e., different "softnesses") has been studied to shed light on the interplay between aggregation and coalescence. In particular, the time evolution of the clusters hydrodynamic and gyration radii as well as of their structure factor has been monitored. With the help of an ad hoc developed deterministic model, based on population balance equations, it was possible to establish a link between the experimentally obtained light scattering data and the predicted particle size distribution. The simplicity of the model, involving one single adjustable parameter based on the coalescence characteristic time, allowed us to obtain a good accordance between simulations and experimental results with little computational effort. (Graph Presented).