Gradient copolymers with gradients in composition along the chain lengths are synthesized by controlled radical polymerization, and their damping behaviors are compared to those of random and block copolymers. The effect of comonomer incompatibility is studied by comparing behaviors of strongly segregating styrene/4-hydroxystyrene (S/HS) and moderately segregating styrene/n-butyl acrylate (S/nBA) copolymers. The effect of composition gradient steepness is studied by designing "constant" or "increasing" gradients via the comonomer addition rate during semi-batch polymerization. Dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) is used to compare the temperature dependences of the storage modulus (E'), loss modulus (E"), and tan 6 of the materials. A glass transition breadth (Delta T-g) is defined by a temperature range over which E' decreases from 10(9) Pa to 10(8) Pa. The gradient copolymer Delta T(g)s are at least four times larger than the random copolymer Delta T(g)s. The S/nBA gradient copolymers show strong effects of gradient steepness on Delta T-g, with Delta T-g being much larger for the increasing gradient than for the constant gradient. DMA data are compared to predictions by Hashimoto et al. for tapered block copolymers in the limit where the taper extends across the entire chain. The shapes of their calculated temperature dependences of E' and E" correspond well to the gradient copolymers with large Delta T-g values, providing strong support for symmetric gradient copolymers forming nanoscale, ordered domains with sinusoidal composition profiles. (C) 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.