Insights into Montmorillonite Nanoclay Based ex Situ Nanocomposites from SEBS and Modified SEBS by Small-Angle X-ray Scattering and Modulated DSC Studies

Control of Dielectric and Mechanical Properties of Styrenic Block Copolymer by Graphite Incorporation

The structure-property relationship of dielectric elastomers, as well as the methods of improving the control of this relationship, has been widely studied over the last few years, including in some of our previous works. In this paper, we study the control, improvement, and correlation, for a significant range of temperatures, of the mechanical and dielectric properties of polystyrene-b-(ethylene-co-butylene)-b-styrene (SEBS) and maleic-anhydride-grafted SEBS (SEBS-MA) by using graphite (G) as filler in various concentrations. The aim is to analyze the suitability of these composites for converting electrical energy into mechanical energy or vice versa. The dielectric spectroscopy analysis performed in the frequency range of 10 to 1 MHz and at temperatures between 27 and 77 °C emphasized an exponential increase in real permittivity with G concentration, a low level of dielectric losses (≈10^-3), as well as the stability of dielectric losses with temperature for high G content. These results correlate well with the increase in mechanical stiffness with an increase in G content for both SEBS/G and SEBS-MA/G composites. The activation energies for the dielectric relaxation processes detected in SEBS/G and SEBS-MA/G composites were also determined and discussed in connection with the mechanical, thermal, and structural properties resulting from thermogravimetric analysis, differential scanning calorimetry, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analyses.

Selective molecular annealing: in situ small angle X-ray scattering study of microwave-assisted annealing of block copolymers

A new experimental set-up facilitating in situ SAXS during microwave annealing of polymers.

Nanolamellar triblock of poly-d,l-lactide–δ-valerolactone–d,l-lactide with tuneable glass transition temperature and crystallinity for use as a drug-delivery vesicle

A d,l-lactide–δ-valerolactone–d,l-lactide triblock copolymer, synthesized by sequential ring-opening polymerization, showed a nanolamellar morphology and was fabricated into microspheres for drug delivery.

Highly ordered hierarchical poly(ethylene oxide)-b-polystyrene/organoclay nanocomposites

A lamellar forming poly(ethylene oxide)-b-polystyrene (PEO-b-PS)/organoclay nanocomposite with a unique hierarchical structure has been fabricated, by casting solution blends of the block copolymer and organoclay, with subsequent annealing at 180 °C for 8 h under uniaxial constraint. PEO-b-PS provided the nanocomposite lamellar structure with a slightly increased long period. Lamellar layers of the nanocomposite block copolymer were oriented parallel to the film plane. Fully exfoliated clay platelets were localized mostly in the aligned PEO layers, and all platelets were found to be parallel to the interface between PEO and PS layers. PEO crystals in the nanocomposite were oriented with the c-axis perpendicular to the phase-separated layers. The orientation function degree of the PEO crystals within the nanocomposite was lower than that of the crystals within the neat block copolymer.