Recent studies on the correlation of viscoelastic properties of pressure-sensitive adhesive (PSAs) with industry standard performances such as peel, tack and shear are reviewed and discussed. One notewothy feature in these correlations is the separation of the bonding and debonding steps in PSA adhesion, which specifies the characteristic bonding and debonding frequencies of different PSA tests. Viscoelastic windows (VW) for different types of pressure-sensitive adhesives (PSAs) proposed by these workers are also compared and discussed. The observed good correlations reaffirm the importance of bulk viscoelastic properties to PSA adhesion performances.

Viscoelastic Properties of Pressure-Sensitive Adhesives

Small‐angle x‐ray scattering from the segmental density fluctuations of a starblock copolymer with a given arm number n of 6 as well as that of a linear diblock copolymer (corresponding to the starblock copolymer with n=1) were studied in both ordered and disordered states. In the ordered state the characteristic wavelength (D) of the fluctuations for the copolymer with n=6 was found to have the same temperature (T) dependence as that for the diblock copolymer, where n=1, i.e., D∼T−1/3. In the disordered state, the theoretical spectrum of the fluctuations was found to essentially agree with the experimental results. The thermodynamic interaction parameter (χ) between the dissimilar monomers was also determined as a function of T from the fluctuation spectrum in the disordered state. The results show a significant n dependence.

Order–disorder transition of starblock copolymers

Rheological and dielectric behavior was examined for concentrated solutions of a styrene−isoprene−styrene (SIS) triblock copolymer in monomeric and polymeric I-selective solvents, n-tetradecane (C14) and a low-M homopolyisoprene (I-1; M = 1.4K). The I blocks had symmetrically once-inverted dipoles along the block contour, and their midpoint motion was dielectrically detected. The SIS solutions exhibited rubbery, plastic, and viscous behavior at low, intermediate, and high temperatures (T). Dielectric and viscoelastic data strongly suggested that the S and I blocks were more or less homogeneously mixed in the viscous regime. In the rubbery and plastic regimes, the S blocks were segregated to form spherical domains, and the I blocks took either the loop or bridge conformation. In these regimes, the inverted dipoles of the I blocks enabled us to dielectrically estimate the loop fraction, φ1 ≅ 60% in C14 and I-1. These loops, having osmotically constrained conformations, strongly affected the rheological prop...

Rheological and Dielectric Behavior of a Styrene−Isoprene−Styrene Triblock Copolymer in Selective Solvents. 2. Contribution of Loop-Type Middle Blocks to Elasticity and Plasticity

A series of poly(styrene-block-ferrocenyldimethylsilane) copolymers (SF) with different relative molar masses of the blocks were prepared by sequential anionic polymerization. The bulk morphology of these polymers, studied by TEM and SAXS, showed well-ordered lamellar and cylindrical domains as well as disordered micellar structures. Temperature-dependent rheological measurements exhibited an order-disorder transition for SF 17/8 (the numbers refer to the relative molar masses in 103 g/mol) between 170 and 180°C, and an order-order transition for SF 9/19 between 190 and 200°C. The morphologies of binary blends of the diblocks with homopolymer were also investigated. In the blends the molar mass of the homopolymer was always less than the molar mass of the matching block. Ordered spheres on a bcc lattice and double-gyroid morphology were observed for the blends. The double-gyroid morphology was found only in F-rich diblock/homopolymer systems.

Periodic organic-organometallic microdomain structures in poly(styrene-block-ferrocenyldimethylsilane) copolymers and blends with corresponding homopolymers

Effects of morphology on mechanical properties of a SBS triblock copolymer

Electron microscopy reveals a high-temperature morphological transition in a styrene-butadiene-styrene block copolymer of 7000 polystyrene block molecular weight and 43,000 polybutadiene block molecular weight (7S-43B-7S). Samples quenched in liquid nitrogen from temperatures above 150°C show no structure, whereas those quenched from temperatures below 140°C clearly show a multiphase structure. We previously reported that the 7S-43B-7S polymer exhibits a relatively sharp melt rheological transition in the temperature region between 140 and 150°C from highly viscoelastic and nonlinear viscous behavior to linear viscous behavior with insignificant elasticity. The dynamic viscoelastic properties are measured at different strain amplitudes in this study, and the results show that the melt rheological transition behavior is not influenced by the strain amplitude. This study clearly shows that the melt rheological transition in the 7S-43B-7S results from a morphological transition from a multiphase structure below about 140°C to a single-phase structure above about 150°C.

L. Young

Papers

High‐temperature morphological transition in a styrene‐butadiene‐styrene block copolymer