Preparation and properties of nanocomposites based on PS-b-(PS/PB)-b-PS triblock copolymer by controlling the size of silica nanoparticles with electron beam irradiation

In this work, silica particles are synthesized in a pre-cross-linked triblock copolymer with styrene-b-(styrene-co-butadiene)-b-styrene (LN4) chain architecture by in situ sol-gel method. Using the proposed method, an easy access to control size and distribution of silica nanoparticles, generated inside the polymer matrix, was achieved by varying the cross-linking density of the polymer network with the aid of electron beam (EB) irradiation. The morphological investigations from atomic force microscopy and small angle X-ray scattering measurements reveal that this technique not only allows to control the size of silica particles but also is helpful in restoring the microphase separation in LN4. Dynamic-mechanical and stress-strain behavior also suggested that the reinforcement effect of the sol-gel silica in the cross-linked elastomers was increasing with decreasing the particle size.