Alternating Gyroid Network Structure in an ABC Miktoarm Terpolymer Comprised of Polystyrene and Two Polydienes. Academic Article uri icon

abstract

  • The synthesis, molecular and morphological characterization of a 3-miktoarm star terpolymer of polystyrene (PS, Mn = 61.0 kg/mol), polybutadiene (PB, Mn = 38.2 kg/mol) and polyisoprene (PI, Mn = 29.2 kg/mol), corresponding to volume fractions () of 0.46, 0.31 and 0.23 respectively, was studied. The major difference of the present material from previous ABC miktoarm stars (which is a star architecture bearing three different segments, all connected to a single junction point) with the same block components is the high 3,4-microstructure (55%) of the PI chains. The interaction parameter and the degree of polymerization of the two polydienes is sufficiently positive to create a three-phase microdomain structure as evidenced by differential scanning calorimetry and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). These results in combination with small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) and birefringence experiments suggest a cubic tricontinuous network structure, based on the I4132 space group never reported previously for such an architecture.

published proceedings

  • Nanomaterials (Basel)

author list (cited authors)

  • Moschovas, D., Manesi, G., Karydis-Messinis, A., Zapsas, G., Ntetsikas, K., Zafeiropoulos, N. E., ... Avgeropoulos, A.

citation count

  • 6

complete list of authors

  • Moschovas, Dimitrios||Manesi, Gkreti-Maria||Karydis-Messinis, Andreas||Zapsas, George||Ntetsikas, Konstantinos||Zafeiropoulos, Nikolaos E||Piryazev, Alexey A||Thomas, Edwin L||Hadjichristidis, Nikos||Ivanov, Dimitri A||Avgeropoulos, Apostolos

publication date

  • July 2020

publisher