Influence of semi‐crystalline poly( ε ‐caprolactone) and non‐crystalline polylactide blocks on the thermal properties of polydimethylsiloxane‐based block copolymers

Poly(A)‐ block ‐poly(B), poly(A)‐ block ‐poly(B)‐ block ‐poly(A) and B(A) 2 block copolymers were prepared through coordinated anionic ring‐opening polymerization of ε ‐caprolactone (CL) and lactic acid (LA) using hydroxy‐terminated polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) as initiator. A wide range of well‐defined combinations of PDMS‐ block ‐PCL and PDMS‐ block ‐PLA diblock copolymers, PCL‐ block ‐PDMS‐ block ‐PCL and PLA‐ block ‐PDMS‐ block ‐PLA triblock copolymers and star‐PDMS(PCL) 2 copolymers were thus obtained. The number‐average molar masses and the structure of the synthesized block copolymers were identified using various analytical techniques. The thermal properties of these copolymers were established using differential scanning calorimetry. Considering PDMS‐ block ‐PCL copolymers, the results demonstrate the complex effect of polymer architecture and PCL block length on the ability of the PDMS block to crystallize or not. In the case of diblock copolymers, crystallization of PCL blocks originated from stacking of adjacent chains inducing the extension of the PDMS block that can easily crystallize. In the case of star copolymers, the same tendency as in triblock copolymers is observed, showing a limited crystallization of PDMS when the length of the PCL block increases. In the case of PDMS‐ block ‐PLA copolymers, melting and crystallization transitions of the PLA block are never observed. Considering the diblock copolymers, PDMS sequences have the ability to crystallize. © 2019 Society of Chemical Industry