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Polylactide‐Based Amphiphilic Block Copolymers: Crystallization‐Induced Self‐Assembly and Stereocomplexation
Author(s) -
Noack Sebastian,
Schanzenbach Dirk,
Koetz Joachim,
Schlaad Helmut
Publication year - 2019
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.201800639
Subject(s) - micelle , copolymer , materials science , crystallization , self assembly , polymer chemistry , differential scanning calorimetry , ethylene glycol , amphiphile , chemical engineering , aqueous solution , transmission electron microscopy , dynamic light scattering , polymer , nanotechnology , chemistry , nanoparticle , composite material , organic chemistry , physics , engineering , thermodynamics
The aqueous self‐assembly behavior of a series of poly(ethylene glycol)‐poly( l ‐/ d ‐lactide) block copolymers and corresponding stereocomplexes is examined by differential scanning calorimetry, dynamic light scattering, and transmission electron microscopy. Block copolymers assemble into spherical micelles and worm‐like aggregates at room temperature, whereby the fraction of the latter seemingly increases with decreasing lactide weight fraction or hydrophobicity. The formation of the worm‐like aggregates arises from the crystallization of the polylactide by which the spherical micelles become colloidally unstable and fuse epitaxically with other micelles. The self‐assembly behavior of the stereocomplex aggregates is found to be different from that of the block copolymers, resulting in rather irregular‐shaped clusters of spherical micelles and pearl‐necklace‐like structures.