Synthesis and Properties of Degradable Copolymers Composed of Poly(ε‐caprolactone) and 3,4‐Dihydroxycinnamic Acid |
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| Authors: | Jihang Li Dongjian Shi Huaqing Xu Na Hu Weifu Dong Mingqing Chen |
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| Institution: | Key Laboratory of Food Colloids and Biotechnology, Ministry of Education, School of Chemical and Material Engineering, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, Jiangsu 214122, China |
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| Abstract: | Photoreactive and degradable hyperbranched (HB) copolymers with various 3,4‐dihydroxycinnamic acid (DHCA) compositions, poly(ε‐caprolactone)‐co‐poly(3,4‐dihydroxycinnamic acid) (PCL‐co‐PDHCA), were obtained by thermal melt‐polycondensation of PCL and DHCA. The HB structures and the branching degree (BD) of the PCL‐co‐PDHCA copolymers were confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and nuclear magnetic resonance (1H NMR). The melting points (Tm) of the PCL‐co‐PDHCA copolymers changed depending on the PCL and DHCA composition by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) measurements. Wide angle X‐ray diffraction (WXRD) analysis showed semi‐crystalline of the PCL and PCL‐co‐PDHCA polymers. The PCL‐co‐PDHCA copolymers showed good photoreactivities and fluorescent properties. Crosslinking of the cinnamoyl groups in the copolymers caused by UV irradiation affected the thermal stability and wettability slightly. Moreover, the hydrolysis experiments revealed that copolymers are facile degradable. |
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| Keywords: | degradability hyperbranched structure photoreactivity |
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