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Morphology and micromechanical behaviour of styrene/butadiene block copolymers and their blends with polystyrene
Author(s) -
Adhikari Rameshwar,
Michler Goerg H.,
Knoll Konrad
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
macromolecular symposia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.257
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1521-3900
pISSN - 1022-1360
DOI - 10.1002/masy.200350811
Subject(s) - copolymer , polystyrene , materials science , lamella (surface anatomy) , composite material , morphology (biology) , deformation (meteorology) , styrene , polymer chemistry , polymer , genetics , biology
The correlation between the morphology and the deformation mechanism in styrene/butadiene block copolymers having modified architecture and in blends with homopolymer polystyrene (hPS) was studied. It was demonstrated that the morphology formation in the block copolymers is highly coupled with their molecular architecture. In particular, the micromechanical behaviour of a star block copolymer and its blends with polystyrene was investigated by using electron microscopy and tensile testing. A homogeneous plastic flow of polystyrene lamellae ( thin layer yielding ) was observed if the lamella thickness was in the range of 20 nm. The deformation micromechanism switched to the formation of craze‐like deformation zones when the average PS lamella thickness changed to about 30 nm and more.