The Effect of Inclusion of Nanoparticles on the Rheological and Morphological Properties of Triblock Copolymer Gels

Keywords:
triblock copolymer, gels, nanocomposite, nanoparticles

Abstract:
Numerous studies reported over the past decade have sought to establish fundamental relationships between morphology and property development in triblock copolymer gels as explicit functions of copolymer molecular weight, copolymer concentration, solution concentration, solvent quality, and process (temperature and shear) history. Although triblock copolymer gels are well-known, few comparable efforts have extended such studies to concentrate triblock copolymer solutions in the presence of nanoparticles. Nanocomposite materials were prepared by embedding nanosized particles into triblock copolymer gels. The effect of these nanoparticles such as different types of nanographite and multiwalled carbon nanotube on the rheological and morphological development of nanocomposite triblock copolymer gels prepared from a microphase-ordered Poly(styrene)-block-poly(ethylene-butylene)-block-poly(styrene) (SEBS) triblock copolymer dissolved in hydrocarbon oil was studied.

Nanotech 2008 Conference Program Abstract