Influence of electron beam irradiation on the morphology and mechanical properties of styrene/butadiene triblock copolymers. (November 2018) - Khatiwada, Shankar P.
Abstract: The crosslinking of a styrene/butadiene triblock copolymer via electron beam (EB) treatment and its influence on morphology and mechanical properties were studied. Different doses were applied to study the effect on the modification of polybutadiene segments of the triblock copolymers whereby the highly ordered hexagonal packed type of the morphology of the block copolymers was not notably modified. However, the glass transition temperature of the soft phase was significantly shifted towards higher temperatures implying the crosslinking of the polybutadiene chains resulting in the decrease in the mobility of the corresponding chains. Moreover, the EB treatment of the copolymer significantly changed the tensile elongation at break, modulus and strength. The changes were attributed to the dose dependent crosslinking of the polybutadiene chains. Highlights: cross-linking of the butadiene segments of styrenic block copolymer was observed. mechanical properties of the copolymer have been found to increase. insignificant changes of nature and size of the morphological features.