Baroplastic materials
AssigneesMassachusetts Institute of Technology, University of Massachusetts
InventorsAnne M. Mayes, Anne Valerie Ruzette, Thomas P. Russell, Pallab Banerjee
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Abstract
The present invention relates to block copolymer compositions capable of being processed by the application of pressure. The invention also provides methods for predicting phase diagrams of polymer blends and block copolymers, particularly block copolymers comprising hard and soft blocks having properties described herein. The methods of the invention allow prediction of polymeric systems which can be processed under conditions that do not promote polymer degradation.
Claims33
A method of processing a polymer, comprising:
- providing a block copolymeric composition comprising a soft component A having a Tg,s of less than room temperature, a hard component B in contact with the soft component A, the hard component having a Tg,h such that hard component has negligible flow at room temperature;
- and
- applying a pressure of at least about 100 psi such that the block copolymeric composition exhibits Newtonian flow at a processing temperature that is less than 150° C., wherein the composition does not exhibit Newtonian flow at the processing temperature in the absence of said pressure.
A block copolymer comprising:
- a soft block having a Tg,s of less than room temperature;
- a hard block bonded to the soft block, the hard block having a Tg,h such that the hard block has negligible flow at room temperature;
- and
- wherein a pressure coefficient that favors miscibility, defined as a change in temperature of the disorder-order transition, TDOT, of the block copolymer, as a function of change in pressure, P(dTDOT/dP), of the block copolymer has an absolute value greater than about 30° C./kbar.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.