Structural Change Accompanied by Plastic-to-Rubber Transition of SBS Block Copolymers

1978 ◽  
Vol 51 (2) ◽  
pp. 215-224 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Fujimura ◽  
T. Hashimoto ◽  
H. Kawai

Abstract It was shown that some block copolymers and their blends with corresponding homopolymers exhibit stress softening. When the specimens are stretched beyond the yield point, they become rubbery and exhibit high elasticity and large recoverable deformation, as a result of a breakup of their original rigid structure. Moreover, the deformed specimens heal, in that the properties of the original undeformed specimens are recovered upon removal of applied stress. This effect was attributed to the reformation of the original microdomain structure. In this work, we investigated an SBS block copolymer and a blend of the copolymer with homopolystyrene in regard to the structural change accompaning the plastic-to-rubber transition and the healing process. Electron microscopy and small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) were used.

Author(s):  
D. L. Polis ◽  
B. S. Pinheiro ◽  
R. E. Lakis ◽  
K.I. Winey

Block copolymers spontaneously self-assemble into a variety of morphologies. Recent studies have produced a biaxial texture in poly(styrene-b-ethylene propylene), SEP, diblock copolymers by applying oscillatory shear. This biaxial texture consists of “parallel” lamellae (normal to lamellae aligned perpendicular to shearing surfaces) and “transverse” lamellae (normal to lamellae aligned parallel to shearing direction) according to small-angle X-ray scattering, SAXS. The present study has determined how these two populations of lamellae are arranged and how they relax upon quiescent annealing by examining the superstructure via FE-SEM.Sample preparation for the JEOL 6300 FE-SEM was designed to preserve a sample's orientation with respect to the shearing direction and provide a large viewing area (.1 - .3 mm2) relative to what is typical with cryo-ultramicrotomed sections for TEM. Bulk samples were cut and mounted on a specimen stub with one of the 3 orthogonal directions of the shearing geometry oriented perpendicular to the stub surface.


Author(s):  
Eva-Maria Mandelkow ◽  
Eckhard Mandelkow ◽  
Joan Bordas

When a solution of microtubule protein is changed from non-polymerising to polymerising conditions (e.g. by temperature jump or mixing with GTP) there is a series of structural transitions preceding microtubule growth. These have been detected by time-resolved X-ray scattering using synchrotron radiation, and they may be classified into pre-nucleation and nucleation events. X-ray patterns are good indicators for the average behavior of the particles in solution, but they are difficult to interpret unless additional information on their structure is available. We therefore studied the assembly process by electron microscopy under conditions approaching those of the X-ray experiment. There are two difficulties in the EM approach: One is that the particles important for assembly are usually small and not very regular and therefore tend to be overlooked. Secondly EM specimens require low concentrations which favor disassembly of the particles one wants to observe since there is a dynamic equilibrium between polymers and subunits.


Author(s):  
J. M. Galbraith ◽  
L. E. Murr ◽  
A. L. Stevens

Uniaxial compression tests and hydrostatic tests at pressures up to 27 kbars have been performed to determine operating slip systems in single crystal and polycrystal1ine beryllium. A recent study has been made of wave propagation in single crystal beryllium by shock loading to selectively activate various slip systems, and this has been followed by a study of wave propagation and spallation in textured, polycrystal1ine beryllium. An alteration in the X-ray diffraction pattern has been noted after shock loading, but this alteration has not yet been correlated with any structural change occurring during shock loading of polycrystal1ine beryllium.This study is being conducted in an effort to characterize the effects of shock loading on textured, polycrystal1ine beryllium. Samples were fabricated from a billet of Kawecki-Berylco hot pressed HP-10 beryllium.


Author(s):  
Eva-Maria Mandelkow ◽  
Ron Milligan

Microtubules form part of the cytoskeleton of eukaryotic cells. They are hollow libers of about 25 nm diameter made up of 13 protofilaments, each of which consists of a chain of heterodimers of α-and β-tubulin. Microtubules can be assembled in vitro at 37°C in the presence of GTP which is hydrolyzed during the reaction, and they are disassembled at 4°C. In contrast to most other polymers microtubules show the behavior of “dynamic instability”, i.e. they can switch between phases of growth and phases of shrinkage, even at an overall steady state [1]. In certain conditions an entire solution can be synchronized, leading to autonomous oscillations in the degree of assembly which can be observed by X-ray scattering (Fig. 1), light scattering, or electron microscopy [2-5]. In addition such solutions are capable of generating spontaneous spatial patterns [6].In an earlier study we have analyzed the structure of microtubules and their cold-induced disassembly by cryo-EM [7]. One result was that disassembly takes place by loss of protofilament fragments (tubulin oligomers) which fray apart at the microtubule ends. We also looked at microtubule oscillations by time-resolved X-ray scattering and proposed a reaction scheme [4] which involves a cyclic interconversion of tubulin, microtubules, and oligomers (Fig. 2). The present study was undertaken to answer two questions: (a) What is the nature of the oscillations as seen by time-resolved cryo-EM? (b) Do microtubules disassemble by fraying protofilament fragments during oscillations at 37°C?


Soft Matter ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (11) ◽  
pp. 3096-3104
Author(s):  
Valeria Castelletto ◽  
Jani Seitsonen ◽  
Janne Ruokolainen ◽  
Ian W. Hamley

A designed surfactant-like peptide is shown, using a combination of cryogenic-transmission electron microscopy and small-angle X-ray scattering, to have remarkable pH-dependent self-assembly properties.


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