Effect of planar extension on the structure and mechanical properties of polystyrene-poly(ethylene-¤co¤-butylene)-polystyrene triblock copolymers

Two thermoplastic poly(styrene)-poly(ethylene-co-butylene) -poly(styrene) triblock copolymers containing either spherical or cylindrical poly(styrene) microdomains were pre-oriented through extensional flow. Small angle neutron scattering (SANS) measurements revealed that the pre-oriented triblock with a spherical microstructure adopts a body-centred cubic (bcc) structure with a [111] orientation along the Row direction. For the pre-oriented triblock with a cylindrical microstructure, the cylinder axis is aligned along the extensional Row direction. Investigation of the mechanical properties showed that Young's moduli of the pre-oriented copolymers are highly anisotropic. Specimens were then subject to uniaxial deformation along the extensional Row direction and at the same time microstructural changes induced by the deformation were investigated by SANS. It was found that the deformation of the bcc lattice is affine, and that the deformation of the microstructure is reversible. For the triblock copolymer with a cylindrical microdomain structure the deformation of the lattice was found to be non-affine. In this case, SANS patterns suggest a "micronecking" and a breaking of the cylindrical domains without any change in the domain spacing. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.