Macromolecular Rapid Communications, Vol.25, No.5, 653-658, 2004
Double yielding in a styrene/butadiene star block copolymer
The morphology and tensile deformation behaviour of a highly asymmetric styrene/butadiene star block copolymer (polystyrene (PS) content = 74%) containing random PS-co-PB (polybutadiene) copolymer as a rubbery phase were investigated. The existence of double yielding, similar to that observed in some semicrystalline polymers, was detected in this nanostructured amorphous polymer. The observed phenomenon may be correlated with two different micromechanical processes taking place at the initial stage of deformation.
Keywords:deformation behaviour;double yielding;mechanical properties;morphology;styrene/butadiene star block copolymer