Copolymers rheological properties

Optical and electro-optical behavior of side-chain liquid crystalline polymers are described 350-351>. The effect of flexible siloxane spacers on the phase properties and electric field effects were determined. Rheological properties of siloxane containing liquid crystalline side-chain polymers were studied as a function of shear rate and temperature 352). The effect of cooling rate on the alignment of a siloxane based side-chain liquid crystalline copolymer was investigated 353). It was shown that the dielectric relaxation behavior of the polymers varied in a systematic manner with the rate at which the material was cooled from its isotropic phase. 

Clay hllers were surface modihed with TMPTA or triethoxyvinyl silane (TEVS) followed by EB irradiation by Ray and Bhowmick [394]. Both the untreated and treated fillers were incorporated in an ethylene-octene copolymer. Mechanical, dynamic mechanical, and rheological properties of the EB-cured unfilled and filled composites were studied and a significant improvement in tensile strength, elongation at break, modulus, and tear strength was observed in the case of surface-treated clay-filled vulcanizates. Dynamic mechanical studies conducted on these systems support the above findings. 

Hong, B. K. and Jo, W. H. (2000) Effects of molecular weight of SEBS triblock copolymer on the morphology, impact strength, and rheological property of syndiotactic polystyrene/ ethylene-propylene rubber blends. Polymer, 41, 2069-2079. 

Rheological Properties. Tlte melt viscosity of an acid copolymer increases dramatically as the fraction of neutralization is increased. 

Theory for block copolymer rheology is still in its infancy. There are no models that can predict the rheological behaviour of a block copolymer from microscopic parameters. Fredrickson and Helfand (1988) considered fluctuation effects on the low frequency linear viscoelastic properties of block copolymers in the disordered melt near the ODT. They found that long-wavelength transverse momentum fluctuations couple only to compositional order parameter fluctua-... 

As block copolymers are still rather expensive materials, it may be advantageous to use them as additives to important industrial polymers. In this domain, possibilities are extremely numerous and diverse. They include an improvement of chemical properties such as resistence to degradation agents, or rheological properties such as adhesion of vinylic paints, high impact properties of conventional thermoplastics, or a compatibilization of polyolefins, polystyrene and poly(vinyl chloride) allowing the reuse of polymeric waste products. The above examples illustrate the great intrinsic potential of block copolymers in the quest of new materials with specific properties. 

Previous investigations (4, 5,6,7,8) have shown that block copolymers exhibit unusual melt rheological properties such as a very high viscosity, elasticity, and non-Newtonian behavior even at very low shear rates which are all attributed to the multiphase structure resulting from the incompatibility between the two copolymer units in the melt state. 

This chapter deals almost exclusively with neat, or pure, diblock copolymer melts. Polymer blends are discussed in Chapter 9, micellar solutions in Chapter 12, and stabilized suspensions in Chapter 6. In the following, Section 13.2 briefly reviews the thermodynamics of block copolymers, and Section 13.3 describes the rheological properties and flow alignment of lamellae, cylinders, and sphere-forming mesophases of block copolymers. More thorough reviews of the thermodynamics and dynamics of block copolymers in the liquid state have been written by Bates and Fredrickson (1990 Fredrickson and Bates 1996). The processing of block copolymers and mechanical properties of the solid-state structures formed by them are covered in Folkes (1985). Biological applications are discussed in Alexandridis (1996). 

Fig. 2. Rheological properties of a vinyl acetate-silicone copolymer (20 wt% silicone) in a molten state.

Nae HN, Reichert WW. Rheological properties of lightly cross-linked carboxy copolymers in aqueous solutions. RheolActa 1992 31 351-360. 

---