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Different Response of Molecular Aggregation Structure of Styrenic Triblock Copolymer under Cyclic Uniaxial and Biaxial Stretching Modes

Mechanical stretching behavior of poly(styrene-b-ethylene-co-butylene-b-styrene) (SEBS) triblock copolymer (87 wt% polyethylene-co-butylene (PEB) block, 13 wt% polystyrene (PS) block) was investigated by three different stretching and in situ small angle X ray scattering (SAXS) measurements. Strain energy density function was investigated based on the stress stretching ratio (λ) relationship under uniaxial, planar extension, and equi-biaxial stretching modes. As the result, cross effect of strain represented by second invariants of the deformation tensor (I2) existed and only Ogden model can be used to fit the data. In the cyclic stretch testing, SEBS exhibited smaller hysteresis during cyclic equi biaxial stretching mode than for uniaxial stretching one. λ and stretching ratio obtained from crystal planes by SAXS (λSAXS) were compared to investigate relationship between microdomain structure change and macroscopic mechanical property. SAXS measurement revealed that affine deformation occurred in the smaller λ region for both uniaxial and equi biaxial stretching modes and deviation from affine deformation occurred for uniaxial stretching mode at the larger λ region. This is because entangled PEB loop chains could work as cross-linking points when films are stretched by equi-biaxial stretching mode.