Microscopic Origins of the Distinct Mechanical Response of ABA and ABC Block Copolymer Nanostructures.
ACS Macro Lett
; : 240-246, 2024 Feb 05.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-38315127
ABSTRACT
It has been commonly believed that the ordered thermoplastic elastomers formed by the ABC triblock copolymer should have better mechanical performance than that by the ABA counterpart due to the higher bridging fraction. However, the thermoplastic elastomer of ABA was often observed to perform better than that of ABC. To compare the performance of two kinds of thermoplastic elastomers and unveil the underlying microscopic mechanism, we have calculated their stress-strain curves using coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulations in conjunction with self-consistent field theory. It is revealed that the stretching degree of the bridging blocks and the network connectivity play important roles in determining the mechanical properties in addition to the bridging fraction. The higher degree in the stretching of bridging blocks and network connectivity of the structure formed by the ABA triblock copolymer enables its superior mechanical performance over the ABC block copolymer.
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Language:
En
Journal:
ACS Macro Lett
Year:
2024
Document type:
Article
Affiliation country:
China