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Synthesis, characterization, crystalline morphologies and hydrophilicity of A 4 BA 4 nonlinear block copolymers
Author(s) -
Ren TianBin,
Liu ChangJin,
Wu Wei,
Ye Kuan,
Yuan WeiZhong
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
polymer international
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.592
H-Index - 105
eISSN - 1097-0126
pISSN - 0959-8103
DOI - 10.1002/pi.4449
Subject(s) - copolymer , characterization (materials science) , materials science , block (permutation group theory) , nonlinear system , polymer chemistry , polymer science , chemical engineering , composite material , nanotechnology , polymer , physics , mathematics , geometry , engineering , quantum mechanics
Novel, well‐defined A 4 BA 4 nonlinear block copolymers [poly( ϵ ‐caprolactone)] 4 ‐ block ‐poly(propylene oxide)‐ block ‐[poly( ϵ ‐caprolactone)] 4 ( PCL 4 ‐ b ‐ PPO ‐ b ‐ PCL 4 ) with eight arms were synthesized by ring‐opening polymerization. An investigation of melting and crystallization demonstrated that the values of crystallization temperature, melting temperature and degree of crystallinity of PCL 4 ‐ b ‐ PPO ‐ b ‐ PCL 4 were enhanced with an increase of PCL chain length. At the same time, the crystallizability of PCL segments was influenced by the star‐shaped structure of the copolymers and the amorphous PPO segments in the copolymers. Furthermore, PCL 4 ‐ b ‐ PPO ‐ b ‐ PCL 4 showed crystalline morphologies that were different from that of linear PCL according to polarized optical microscopy. Moreover, the hydrophilicity of the copolymers could be improved and adjusted by the star‐shaped structure and the alteration of the relative content of the PCL and PPO segments in the copolymers.© 2013 Society of Chemical Industry