Alternating Gyroid Network Structure in an ABC Miktoarm Terpolymer Comprised of Polystyrene and Two Polydienes
Dimitrios Moschovas,
Gkreti-Maria Manesi,
Andreas Karydis-Messinis,
George Zapsas,
Konstantinos Ntetsikas,
Nikolaos E. Zafeiropoulos,
Alexey A. Piryazev,
Edwin L. Thomas,
Nikos Hadjichristidis,
Dimitri A. Ivanov,
Apostolos Avgeropoulos
Affiliations
Dimitrios Moschovas
Department of Materials Science Engineering, University of Ioannina, University Campus-Dourouti, 45110 Ioannina, Greece
Gkreti-Maria Manesi
Department of Materials Science Engineering, University of Ioannina, University Campus-Dourouti, 45110 Ioannina, Greece
Andreas Karydis-Messinis
Department of Materials Science Engineering, University of Ioannina, University Campus-Dourouti, 45110 Ioannina, Greece
George Zapsas
Physical Sciences and Engineering Division, KAUST Catalysis Center, Polymer Synthesis Laboratory, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal 23955, Saudi Arabia
Konstantinos Ntetsikas
Physical Sciences and Engineering Division, KAUST Catalysis Center, Polymer Synthesis Laboratory, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal 23955, Saudi Arabia
Nikolaos E. Zafeiropoulos
Department of Materials Science Engineering, University of Ioannina, University Campus-Dourouti, 45110 Ioannina, Greece
Alexey A. Piryazev
Institute of Problems of Chemical Physics, Russian Academy of Sciences, Chernogolovka, 142432 Moscow, Russia
Edwin L. Thomas
Department of Materials Science and NanoEngineering, Rice University, Houston, TX 77030, USA
Nikos Hadjichristidis
Physical Sciences and Engineering Division, KAUST Catalysis Center, Polymer Synthesis Laboratory, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal 23955, Saudi Arabia
Dimitri A. Ivanov
Faculty of Chemistry, Lomonosov Moscow State University (MSU), GSP-1, 1-3 Leninskiye Gory, 119991 Moscow, Russia
Apostolos Avgeropoulos
Department of Materials Science Engineering, University of Ioannina, University Campus-Dourouti, 45110 Ioannina, Greece
The synthesis, molecular and morphological characterization of a 3-miktoarm star terpolymer of polystyrene (PS, M¯n = 61.0 kg/mol), polybutadiene (PB, M¯n = 38.2 kg/mol) and polyisoprene (PI, M¯n = 29.2 kg/mol), corresponding to volume fractions (φ) of 0.46, 0.31 and 0.23 respectively, was studied. The major difference of the present material from previous ABC miktoarm stars (which is a star architecture bearing three different segments, all connected to a single junction point) with the same block components is the high 3,4-microstructure (55%) of the PI chains. The interaction parameter and the degree of polymerization of the two polydienes is sufficiently positive to create a three-phase microdomain structure as evidenced by differential scanning calorimetry and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). These results in combination with small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) and birefringence experiments suggest a cubic tricontinuous network structure, based on the I4132 space group never reported previously for such an architecture.
