화학공학소재연구정보센터
Journal of Polymer Science Part B: Polymer Physics, Vol.47, No.7, 715-723, 2009
Orientation of Cylindrical Microdomains of Triblock Copolymers by In Situ Stress-Strain-Birefringence Measurements
The orientation behavior of polystyrene-block-hydrogenated polyisoprene-block-polystyrene (SEPS) with cylindrical microdomains of polystyrene (PS) dispersed in the rubbery segments was investigated by simultaneous measurements of stress and birefringence during uniaxial stretching. The stress increased sharply with strain below the yield strain and then it gradually increased. In contrast, the birefringence changed little below the yield strain, increased sharply with strain above the yield strain up to a strain of 0.5, and then gradually increased. The characteristic birefringence behavior is attributed to the form birefringence induced by the orientation and the parallel arrangement of the cylindrical microdomains associated with the orientation of the rubbery segments. The orientation function of the cylindrical microdomains f evaluated by analyzing the form birefringence agrees well with that obtained from the SAXS result. The f was almost zero below the yield strain and it increased sharply with strain up to a strain of 0.5 and then was constant above a strain of 0.5. These results suggest that the orientation of the cylindrical microdomains occur above the yield strain up to a strain of 0.5 and that the orientation does not increase above a strain of 0.5 in spite of the continuous orientation of the rubbery ethylene-propylene segments. (C) 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 47: 715-723, 2009