Abstract
The synthesis via anionic polymerization of six linear triblock terpolymers with various sequences of blocks such as PS (polystyrene), PB (polybutadiene), PI (polyisoprene) and PCHD (poly(1,3-cyclohexadiene)) is reported. The synthesis of the terpolymers was accomplished by the use of anionic polymerization with high vacuum techniques and sequential monomer addition. Molecular
characterization of the samples was performed via size exclusion chromatography and membrane osmometry to measure polydispersity indices and the number-average molecular weights, respectively. Proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy was adopted to verify the type of microstructure for the polydienes as well as to calculate the molar composition. Structural characterization was performed via transmission electron microscopy and small angle X-ray scattering and several morphologies were observed including one which has not been reported previously. Real-space self-consistent field theory (SCFT) without a priori knowledge about the symmetry of the periodic
structures was used to elucidate the thermodynamics of the synthesized triblock copolymers.
