Temperature-induced nonlinearity of an upper critical solution temperature (UCST) copolymer blend and its nanocomposites containing 5 wt% mono-size soft nanoparticles (SNPs) were investigated. Mechanical and thermal energies contribution into the nonlinearity of UCST copolymer blend was 8.9×10 3 Jm −3 and 2.2×10 3 Jmol −1 , respectively. Addition of SNP did not change the system thermal-based nonlinearity, while altered its mechanical contribution at constant heating and solicitation conditions. It diminished to 0.4× 10 3 Jm −3 in the nanocomposite containing nano-size dispersion of aged SNPs. Micron-size agglomeration of the fresh SNPs in the nanocomposite; however, enhanced the required mechanical energy for nonlinearity to 4.1×10 3 Jm −3 . Shorttime annealing of the nanocomposite with micron-size agglomerates reduced its mechanical energy part to 2.8 × 10 3 Jm −3 , while annealing extension maximized it at 9.3× 10 3 Jm −3 . Heating rate increase amplified the thermal contribution into the nonlinearity at constant or reduced mechanical contribution. Finally, room-temperature annealing magnified the temperature-induced nonlinearity of the UCST copolymer blend at minimum mechanical contribution.
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