Optical properties of polymeric materials and their measurement

The paper puts forward a system of magnitudes for characterizing the optical properties of polymeric materials or, in general, inhomogeneous media.

Two categories of magnitudes can be distinguished: those which depend on the average value of the molecular parameters (describing refraction phenomena) and those which depend on the degree of inhomogeneity of the medium (describing scattering properties). The characteristics in the second category are subsumed under the headings `transparency' and `light transfer'. The magnitudes thought appropriate are defined and discussed. The experimental methods for the determination of the transparency and transfer properties are also presented.