Microphase separation induced in the melt of Pluronic copolymers by blending with a hydrogen bonding urea-urethane end-capped supramolecular polymer

Daniel Hermida-Merino (1, 2) , Gemma E. Newby (2) , Ian W. Hamley (3) , Wayne Hayes (3) , Andrew Slark (4)

1 DPI, NL-5600 AX Eindhoven, Netherlands
2 ESRF - European Synchrotron Radiation Facility
3 Univ Reading, Dept Chem, Reading RG6 6AD, Berks, England
4 Henkel UK Ltd, Slough SL2 5DS, Berks, England

Blending with a hydrogen-bonding supramolecular polymer is shown to be a successful novel strategy to induce microphase-separation in the melt of a Pluronic polyether block copolymer. The supramolecular polymer is a polybutadiene derivative with urea-urethane end caps. Microphase separation is analysed using small-angle X-ray scattering and its influence on the macroscopic rheological properties is analysed. FTIR spectroscopy provides a detailed picture of the inter-molecular interactions between the polymer chains that induces conformational changes leading to microphase separation

Domaines: Chimie

Daniel Hermida-Merino, Gemma E. Newby, Ian W. Hamley, Wayne Hayes, Andrew Slark. Microphase separation induced in the melt of Pluronic copolymers by blending with a hydrogen bonding urea-urethane end-capped supramolecular polymer. Soft Matter, 2015, 11 (29), pp.5799-5803. ⟨10.1039/c5sm01461a⟩. ⟨hal-01573012⟩