Self-assembly of thermally oxidized triblock terpolymers

Abstract

A poly(styrene-b-butadiene-b-methyl methacrylate) terpolymer was thermally aged and observed to undergo mainly crosslinking with some chain scissions. The consequences on self-assembly are examined. At short conversion degrees, chain scissions predominate and favor a faster self-assembly, but at higher ageing degrees, chain scissions in combination with crosslinking induce the inhibition of self-assembly and phase separation.