%0 journal article
%@ 1744-683X
%A Wittenberg, E., Meyer, A., Eggers, S., Abetz, V.

%D 2018
%J Soft Matter

%P 2701-2711 
%R doi:10.1039/c8sm00296g
%T Hydrogen bonding and thermoplastic elastomers – A nice couple with temperature-adjustable mechanical properties
%U https://doi.org/10.1039/c8sm00296g
 
%X Styrene–butadiene copolymers are modified with varying fractions of benzoic acid moieties being able to perform hydrogen bonding. This is done by using a simple synthetic approach which utilizes click chemistry. Temperature-dependent dynamic mechanical properties are studied, and it turns out that even the apparently rather simple hydrogen bonding motif has a marked impact on the material properties due to the fact that it facilitates the formation of a supramolecular polymer network. Besides a glass transition, the investigated functionalized copolymers exhibit a second endothermic transition, known as a quasi-melting. This is related to the opening of the hydrogen bonding complexes. Additionally to dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), temperature-dependent infrared (IR) spectroscopy and small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) are used to understand the structure–property relationships.