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Thermoreversible gel–sol behavior of biodegradable PCL‐PEG‐PCL triblock copolymer in aqueous solutions
Author(s) -
Liu Cai Bing,
Gong Chang Yang,
Huang Mei Juan,
Wang Ji Wei,
Pan Yi Feng,
Zhang Yang De,
Li Guo Zheng,
Gou Ma Ling,
Wang Ke,
Tu Ming Jing,
Wei Yu Quan,
Qian Zhi Yong
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
journal of biomedical materials research part b: applied biomaterials
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.665
H-Index - 108
eISSN - 1552-4981
pISSN - 1552-4973
DOI - 10.1002/jbm.b.30858
Subject(s) - copolymer , micelle , materials science , aqueous solution , ethylene glycol , polymer chemistry , chemical engineering , polymerization , peg ratio , glass transition , polymer , chemistry , organic chemistry , composite material , finance , engineering , economics
A series of biodegradable PCL‐PEG‐PCL block copolymers were successfully synthesized by ring‐opening polymerization of ε‐caprolactone initiated by poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG), which were characterized by 1 H NMR, 13 C NMR, and FTIR. Their aqueous solution displayed special gel–sol transition behavior with temperature increasing from 4 to 100°C, when the polymer concentration was above corresponding critical gel concentration (CGC). The gel–sol phase diagram was recorded using test tube inverting method and DSC method, which depended not only on chemical composition of copolymers, but also on heating history of copolymer's aqueous solution. As a result, the gel–sol transition temperature could be adjusted, which might be very useful for its application in biomedical fields such as injectable drug delivery system. And the typical shell‐core structure of PCL‐PEG‐PCL micelles was introduced. The micelle‐packing and partial crystallization might be the key gelation machanism for this gel–sol transition behavior of PCL‐PEG‐PCL aqueous solution. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part B: Appl Biomater 84B: 165–175, 2008