Influence of chemical crosslinks on the elastic behavior of segmented block copolymers

Polyether(ester–amide)s (PEEA) segmented block copolymers with di- and tri-functional poly(propylene oxide)s and amide segments were synthesized and the elastic properties studied. The difunctional polyether used had a molecular weight of 2300 g/mol end capped with 20 wt% ethylene oxide. The trifunctional polyether had a molecular weight of 6000 g/mol of which each arm had a molecular weight of 2000 g/mol. The concentration of the trifunctional polyether of the total ether content was varied from 0 to 40 mol%. The amide segments were of a non-crystallizing type with a content in the copolymers of 27 wt%. Phase separation occurred, therefore, only by liquid–liquid demixing. The thermal mechanical properties of the polymers were analyzed by dynamic mechanical thermal analysis and the elastic properties by compression set and tensile set. The materials are model blockcopolymers for the more complex chemically crosslinked polyether(urethane–urea)s (PEUU). With increasing amounts of chemical crosslinks the glass transition temperature and the modulus did not change noticeably. However, the elastic behavior as measured by compression set and tensile set, improved dramatically. Giving time all materials recovered completely and with increasing amount of chemical crosslinks this recovery happened faster. An explanation is given for the (viscoelastic) deformation in these copolymers.