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Toughening of Polymers by Self‐Assembling Molecules
Author(s) -
Stendahl J.C.,
Li L.,
Zubarev E.R.,
Chen Y.R.,
Stupp S.I.
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
advanced materials
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 10.707
H-Index - 527
eISSN - 1521-4095
pISSN - 0935-9648
DOI - 10.1002/1521-4095(20021104)14:21<1540::aid-adma1540>3.0.co;2-t
Subject(s) - materials science , birefringence , toughening , polystyrene , polymer , composite material , molecule , styrene , copolymer , toughness , optics , organic chemistry , chemistry , physics
Dendron rod–coil molecules (DRCs) spontaneously assemble into birefringent gel‐forming networks when added to styrene in small amounts. It is shown that DRC gel derived polystyrene (PS) has greater birefringence than the PS homopolymer when drawn under similar conditions.The dispersed DRC nanophase is responsible for a 70 % increase in impact strength over the PS homopolymer, as well as interesting fracture behavior (see Figure).