Thermoplastic elastomers: fundamentals and applications

Thermoplastic elastomers are multi-functional polymeric materials that generally possess the processability of thermoplastics and the elasticity of vulcanized rubber. Intrinsic thermoplastic elastomers include microphase-separated block and segmented copolymers containing a soft (low-Tg) species. Recent achievements regarding thermoplastic elastomer block and segmented copolymers in the past year have improved the current understanding of (i) complex nanostructures in unary and multicomponent systems and (ii) the thermally-activated sphere→cylinder and cylinder→gyroid order–order transitions. The use of these materials in organogel, electro-responsive and nanocomposite applications illustrates the diversity and future potential of these technologically important materials.