Morphology Evolution during Stretching Investigated by in situ SAXS of Hybrids with Ceramic Nanoparticles Selectively Incorporated into a Highly Available Block Copolymer as a Model Material for Wearables

Polystyrene-b-poly­(ethylene-co-butylene)-b-polystyrene-grafted maleic anhydride (SEBS-MA), a highly available block copolymer (BCP), was employed as a template to selectively guide the incorporation of aluminosilicate nanoparticles (NPs). To this end, hybrids with different amounts of sol–gel NPs in SEBS-MA were prepared by solvent casting. Results indicated that NPs could react with maleic anhydride-derived species in SEBS-MA to lead to cross-links in the EB block. Furthermore, the incorporation of NPs up to 15 wt % led to hybrids with enhanced strength and strain at break. In situ SAXS analysis during stretching showed that the lamellar phase was severely damaged upon stretching. Moreover, high contents of NPs led to morphologies with coarse particles ejected from the BCP lamellar structure. The overall result indicates that highly available BCP elastomers can be used as a platform for the design of hybrids with well-distributed NPs and enhanced properties useful for wearables.