Macromolecules, Vol.33, No.5, 1686-1691, 2000
Thermoreversible physical gelation of block copolymers in a selective solvent
Solidlike and liquidlike linear viscoelastic responses were observed at low and high temperatures (T) for polystyrene-polyisoprene-polystyrene (SIS) triblock copolymers dissolved in an I-selective solvent, n-tetradecane (C14). These SIS systems behaved as thermoreversible physical gels, with the microphase-separated S domains working as the cross-links at low T. Linear responses of those systems were examined in the vicinity of the sol-gel transition temperature T-gel. For the systems fully equilibrated in an isothermal state at T-gel, the power-law behavior, G'(omega) similar to G "(omega) similar to omega(n), was observed only at high frequencies to, and a separate slow relaxation mode was observed at low omega. For the system quenched from high T(>T-gel) to low T(
Keywords:STYRENE TRIBLOCK COPOLYMER;SOL-GEL TRANSITION;ANGLE X-RAY;LINEAR VISCOELASTICITY;DIELECTRIC BEHAVIOR;POINT;TETRADECANE;SCATTERING;ELASTOMER;RHEOLOGY