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Abstract
The chain conformation and structure for an A10B10A10 triblock copolymer (ABA) in blends (ABA/B) consisting of A10B10A10 triblock copolymer and homopolymer B(h-B) were studied by a Monte Carlo simulation method. Two kinds of curves, (fraction of bridged ABA chains) vs. ABA% (content of ABA copolymer in the blends) or
(the length of homopolymer B) and
(mean square radius of the gyration) vs. ABA% or
, were utilized to explore the effects of
and homopolymer content on the chain conformation and blending structure. For all blends consisting of A10B10A10/h-B, the turning point can be observed at around
=
(Lb-B is the length of block B of ABA copolymer) in the
vs.
curves. An obvious decrease-increase-decrease transition process was observed based on the
vs. ABA% curves. The different parts in the curves correspond to different structures, in which the ABA copolymer chains mainly have “chain loops” or “chain bridges” conformation.
Funding
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Projects No. 21506167, 21274151, 21376073) and the Scientific Research Program Funded by Shaanxi Provincial Education Department (Projects No. 15JK1352).