Amorphous poly(diethylsiloxane) (PDES) elastomers undergo a transition to an aligned
mesomorphic state when subjected to uniaxial tension. The structural changes associated with this
transition and the kinetics of its formation have been investigated by in-situ synchrotron wide-angle and
small-angle X-ray scattering. In the mesomorphic state, the PDES elastomers are biphasic, consisting of
aligned mesophase domains and amorphous material. Because of the well-defined structure of the networks
used, we were able to determine that the mesophase domain size is governed by the precursor chain
length and is unaffected by trapped entanglements. The observed increase in mesophase content with
increase in extension ratio in a fully necked sample is caused by an increase in the number of mesophase
domains rather than an increase in domain size. In the extended state, PDES elastomers attain a very
high degree of segment orientation comparable to that of mesogen-containing liquid crystalline elastomers.
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