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Antifreeze Properties of Polyglycidol Block Copolymers
Author(s) -
Baruch Eti,
Mastai Yitzhak
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
macromolecular rapid communications
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.348
H-Index - 154
eISSN - 1521-3927
pISSN - 1022-1336
DOI - 10.1002/marc.200700501
Subject(s) - copolymer , antifreeze , antifreeze protein , crystallization , materials science , ethylene oxide , polymer chemistry , ice crystals , melting point , kinetics , chemical engineering , chemistry , polymer , organic chemistry , composite material , physics , quantum mechanics , biochemistry , engineering , optics
Abstract In this paper, we describe a new biomimetic approach to the synthesis of block copolymers with antifreeze properties. Our approach focuses on the design of block copolymers that mimic the structure and functionality of antifreeze proteins. Hyperbranched copolymers containing poly(ethylene oxide)‐polyethyleneimine blocks and polyglycidol side chains were synthesized and their antifreeze properties were studied. It is shown that these block copolymers can lower the freezing point of water up to 0.8 °C at a relatively low concentration (1 mg · mL −1 ). From DSC measurements it is proven that polyglycidol block copolymers slow down the crystallization kinetics of ice and lead to changes in the ice crystal morphology, as observed by cryo‐optical microscopy.