title: Phase behavior of physically cross-linked asymmetric random heteropolymers.
abstract: We study the phase behavior of physically cross-linked asymmetric copolymer networks where the composition of the minor component is small (<10%). The effects of the degree of cross-linking and monomer-monomer interactions on the microstructure of the network are considered. Two cases of cross-links are considered: (1) cross-linking of the majority component only, i.e., inhomogeneous cross-linking, and (2) cross-linking between all types of monomers with equal probability. It is found that for a given set of parameters, both the degree of physical cross-linking and competing (segregating) interactions between the monomers can each be used to induce microphase segregation, or the aggregation of the minor component into ordered microdomains. The type of cross-linking is found to affect the final morphology of the gel while interactions enhance the degree of segregation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel 32000.
authors.forename: Simcha
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Srebnik