| Abstract: | Electron microscopy reveals a high-temperature morphological transition in a styrene-butadiene-styrene block copolymer of 7000 polystyrene block molecular weight and 43,000 polybutadiene block molecular weight (7S-43B-7S). Samples quenched in liquid nitrogen from temperatures above 150°C show no structure, whereas those quenched from temperatures below 140°C clearly show a multiphase structure. We previously reported that the 7S-43B-7S polymer exhibits a relatively sharp melt rheological transition in the temperature region between 140 and 150°C from highly viscoelastic and nonlinear viscous behavior to linear viscous behavior with insignificant elasticity. The dynamic viscoelastic properties are measured at different strain amplitudes in this study, and the results show that the melt rheological transition behavior is not influenced by the strain amplitude. This study clearly shows that the melt rheological transition in the 7S-43B-7S results from a morphological transition from a multiphase structure below about 140°C to a single-phase structure above about 150°C. |
