title: Entangled triblock copolymer gel: morphological and mechanical properties.
abstract: The morphological and mechanical properties of entangled ABA triblock copolymer gels, where solvent were selective to the midblock, were studied as a function of polymer concentration using a novel dissipative particle dynamics model which includes a modified segmental repulsive potential that restricts chain crossing. Morphological properties, such as micelle size, distance between micelles, and the bridge fraction, were calculated as a function of concentration. Although the micelle size was shown to have a strong dependence on concentration, the bridge fraction and distance between micelles were shown to plateau at moderate concentrations. Deformation under uni-axial tension was also performed to extract the cross-link and entanglement contribution to the elastic modulus. Scaling results qualitatively agree with other theoretical predications.
authors: U.S. Army Research Laboratory, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland 21005-5069, USA.
authors: Tanya L
authors: TL
authors: Chantawansri
authors: Timothy W
authors: TW
authors: Sirk
authors: Yelena R
authors: YR
authors: Sliozberg