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Long-range order in physical networks of gel-forming triblock copolymer solutions

✍ Scribed by R. Kleppinger; N. Mischenko; H. L. Reynaers; M. H. J. Koch


Publisher
John Wiley and Sons
Year
1999
Tongue
English
Weight
210 KB
Volume
37
Category
Article
ISSN
0887-6266

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✦ Synopsis


Structural studies on physical gels, based on a triblock copolymer and a solvent selective for its midblocks, are presented. Gel formation in such systems arises due to interconnected microdomains that form the junctions in a three-dimensional network. Small angle X-ray scattering studies revealed that the physical networks show either short-range order, described by an effective hard sphere model, or longrange order, where junctions are arranged on a cubic lattice. The emerging morphology depends on the thermal conditions during preparation of such systems, which essentially reflects a competition among microdomain ordering and formation of the physical network.