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Novel biodegradable amphiphilic poly(ε‐caprolactone)/poly( N ‐vinylpyrrolidone) blends via successive in situ polymerizations
Author(s) -
Xing Zhimin,
Xie Tingxiu,
Yang Guisheng
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
journal of applied polymer science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.575
H-Index - 166
eISSN - 1097-4628
pISSN - 0021-8995
DOI - 10.1002/app.29176
Subject(s) - materials science , caprolactone , polymer chemistry , polymerization , n vinylpyrrolidone , copolymer , polymer blend , chemical engineering , phase inversion , contact angle , polymer , chemistry , composite material , membrane , biochemistry , engineering
In this study, biodegradable blends of poly(ε‐caprolactone) (PCL) and poly( N ‐vinylpyrrolidone) (PVP) were prepared by a new strategy in the following steps: (1) free radical polymerization of N ‐vinyl‐2‐pyrrolidone (NVP) in ε‐caprolactone (CL); (2) ring‐opening polymerization of ε‐caprolactone in the presence of PVP to obtain the target blends. The structure of the blends was confirmed by FTIR and 1 H NMR, and the molecular weight of PCL and PVP were determined by GPC. SEM study revealed that this polymerization method could decrease the disperse phase size and improve the interphase when compared with solution‐blending method. The phase inversion occurred when PVP content was 15–20 wt %. Subsequently, the PCL sphere dispersed in PVP matrix and its size decreased with the increase of PVP content. The contact angle results showed that PVP has a profound effect on hydrophilic properties of PCL/PVP blends. PCL/PVP blends are believed to be promising for drug delivery, cell therapy, and other biomedical applications. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2009