Structural Rheology of Microphase Separated Diblock Copolymers

Abstract

We formulate a viscoelastic theory for interconnected microphase separated structures such as a double gyroid in diblock copolymer melts. We consider the energy increase and the energy dissipation due to the deformation of interconnected periodic domains. The dominant elastic part agrees with previous analytical results obtained by a phase formulation of deformations. It is shown that a viscous response also appears which is mainly due to two relaxation modes of the gyroid.