Synthesis and Characterization of ABBA Block Copolymer of Glycolide and ε-Caprolactone

A biodegradable ABBA block copolymer was synthesized via the ring-opening co-polymerization of ε-Scaprolactone (CL, B) and glycolide (A) by means of step polymerization in the presence of ethylene glycol as an initiator and stannous octanoate as a catalyst at 110 ℃ for 48 h. The molecular length of the PCL prepolymer(BB) could be adjusted by controlling the molar ratio of the ethylene glycol initiator to ε-caprolactone monomer. The structure and the composition of the block copolymer were determined by the weight ratio of the monomer glycolide (A) to PCL pre-polymer(BB). The block copolymers were characterized by ^1H NMR, GPC, DSC and X-ray. The results confirm the successful synthesis of an ABBA block copolymer.     

HETEROCYCLIC SCHIFF BASE NEODYMIUM COMPLEX AS CATALYST FOR RING-OPENING POLYMERIZATION OF ε-CAPROLACTONE

An aromatic heterocyclic Schiff base neodymium complex bearing thizole was synthesized and its activity in the ring-opening polymerization of ε-caprolactone (CL) was examined. The conditions of the CL/Nd molar ratio, monomer concentration, polymerization time and temperature were investigated. Activities of ca.171 kg/Nd·h were obtained under the optimum condition (CL/Nd = 1600 (molar ratio), |CL] = 2.26 mol L-1, 1 h at 50℃), giving a poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) of number-average molecular weight Mn = 5.4 × 104 and molecular weight distribution MWD = 1.96. The conversion of CL monomer as high as 94% was observed after polymerized for one hour. The mechanism of coordination polymerization has also been illustrated.     

AN APPROACH TO SYNTHESIZE POLY(ETHYLENE GLYCOL)-b-POLY(ε-CAPROLACTONE) WITH TERMINAL AMINO GROUP via SCHIFF'S BASE AS AN INITIATOR

A new method to synthesize a degradable terminal amino group-containing copolymer, poly(ethylene glycol)-b-poly(ε-caprolactone) (MPEG-PCL-NH2), was developed in the following three steps: (1) the ring-opening polymerization (ROP) of ε-caprolactone from the Schiff base prepared from benzaldehyde and ethanolamine (Ph-CH=NCH2CH2OH) used as an initiator to obtain heterobifunctional poly(ε-caprolactone) with one terminal Schiff base group and one hydroxyl group (HO-PCL-CH2CH2N = CH-Ph); (2) the coupling reaction of two reactive precursors, a hydroxy-terminated HO-PCL-CH2CH2N=CH-Ph and α-monocarboxy-ωmonomethoxy poly(ethylene glycol) (CMPEG) to synthesize MPEG-PCL-CH2CH2N=CH-Ph; (3) the conversion of the -N=CH-Ph end-group into NH2 end-group by acidification of acetic acid to obtain MPEG-PCL-NH2. The structures from the precursors to the terminal amino group-containing copolymer were confirmed by 1H-NMR and their molecular weights were measured by gel permeation chromatography. The amphiphilic terminal amino group-containing copolymer could self-assemble into micelles in an aqueous system with PCL block as the core and PEG block as the shell. The micelle formation of the terminal amino group-containing block copolymer was studied by fluorescent probe technique and the existence of critical micellar concentration (cmc) confirmed the amphiphilic nature of the resulting copolymer. ESEM and DLS analysis of the micelles revealed a homogeneous spherical morphology and a unimodal size distribution.     

Block Copolymer Networks Composed of Poly(ε-caprolactone) and Polyethylene with Triple Shape Memory Properties

In this contribution, we reported a novel synthesis of block copolymer networks composed of poly(ε-caprolactone)(PCL) and polyethylene(PE) via the co-hydrolysis and condensation of α,ω-ditriethoxylsilane-terminated PCL and PE telechelics. First, α,ω-dihydroxylterminated PCL and PE telechelics were synthesized via the ring-opening polymerization of ε-caprolactone and the ring-opening metathesis polymerization of cyclooctene followed by hydrogenation of polycyclooctene. Both α,ω-ditriethoxylsilane-terminated PCL and PE telechelics were obtained via in situ reaction of α,ω-dihydroxyl-terminated PCL and PE telechelics with 3-isocyanatopropyltriethoxysilane. The formation of networks was evidenced by the solubility and rheological tests. It was found that the block copolymer networks were microphase-separated. The PCL and PE blocks still preserved the crystallinity. Owing to the formation of crosslinked networks, the materials displayed shape memory properties. More importantly, the combination of PCL with PE resulted that the block copolymer networks had the triple shape memory properties, which can be triggered with the melting and crystallization of PCL and PE blocks. The results reported in this work demonstrated that triple shape memory polymers could be prepared via the formation of block copolymer networks.     

HETEROCYCLIC SCHIFF BASE NEODYMIUM COMPLEX AS CATALYST FOR RING-OPENING POLYMERIZATION OF ε-CAPROLACTONE

An aromatic heterocyclic Schiff base neodymium complex bearing thiazole was synthesized and its activity in the ring-opening polymerization ofε-caprolactone(CL)was examined.The conditions of the CL/Nd molar ratio,monomer concentration,polymerization time and temperature were investigated.Activities of ca.171 kg/Nd·h were obtained under the optimum condition(CL/Nd=1600(molar ratio),[CL]=2.26 mol L~(-1),1 h at 50℃),giving a poly(ε-caprolactone)(PCL)of number-average molecular weight M_n=5.4×10~4 and molecular weight distribution MWD=1.96.The conversion of CL monomer as high as 94% was observed after polymerized for one hour.The mechanism of coordination polymerization has also been illustrated.     

Crystallization Behavior and Dynamic Mechanical Properties of Poly(ε-caprolactone)/Octaisobutyl-Polyhedral Oligomeric Silsesquioxanes Composites Prepared via Different Methods

Two octaisobutyl-polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxanes(oib-POSS)reinforced biodegradable poly(ε-caprolactone)(PCL)composites were prepared via two different methods,i.e.,melt compounding and solution casting,which were named as m PCL/oib-POSS and s PCL/oibPOSS,respectively,in this work.Oib-POSS dispersed finely in both composites;moreover,oib-POSS aggregates were larger in m PCL/oib-POSS than in s PCL/oib-POSS.Despite the different preparation methods,oib-POSS obviously promoted the crystallization of PCL,especially in s PCL/oib-POSS,but did not modify the crystal structure of PCL.The storage moduli of PCL were improved significantly in both composites.PCL/oib-POSS composites with enhanced crystallization behavior and improved dynamic mechanical properties were successfully prepared through both methods;moreover,the solution casting method was more effective than the melt compounding method.     

Microwave-assisted Polymerization of ε-Caprolactone with Maleic Acid as Initiator and Drug Release Behavior of Ibuprofen-Poly(ε-caprolaetone) System

Poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) with weight-average molar mass over 10000 g/mol was synthesized by microwave-assisted ring-opening polymerization of ε-caprolactonc (ε-CL) with malcic acid (MA) as initiator (2.45 GHz, 360 W, 85 min). Ibuprofen-PCL controlled release system was prepared directly by the ROP of ε-CL in its mixture with ibuprofen. The release of ibuprofen from the system was sustained and steady.     

Morphology, crystallization and mechanical properties of poly(ɛ-caprolactone)/graphene oxide nanocomposites

A series of nanocomposites based on poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) and graphene oxide (GO) were prepared by in situ polymerization. Scanning electron microscopy observation revealed not only a well dispersion of GO but also a strong interfacial interaction between GO and the PCL matrix, as evidenced by the presence of some GO nanosheets embedded in the matrix. Effects of GO nanofillers on the crystal structure, crystallization behavior and spherulitic morphology of the PCL matrix were investigated in detail. The results showed that the crystallization temperature of PCL enhanced significantly due to the presence of GO in the nanocomposites, however, the addition of GO did not affect the crystal structure greatly. Thermal stability of PCL remarkably increased with the addition of GO nanosheets, compared with that of pure PCL. Incorporation of GO greatly improved the tensile strength and Young’s modulus of PCL without a significant loss of the elongation at break.     

Observation of banded spherulites and lamellar structures by atomic force microscopy

Spherulites are common structures of semi-crystalline polymers. It has been known that semi-crystalline polymers can form spherulites when crystallized from solution or from melt. A dark Maltese cross of a spherulite could be easily observed under the polarized optical microscopy (POM). Moreover, some spherulites show an additional alternating dark and bright concentric ring structure that is attributed to the regular twisting of the radial crystallite ribbons as they grow from the spherulit…     

TRANSESTERIFICATION OF POLY(ETHYLENE TEREPHTHALATE) WITH POLY(ε-CAPROLACTONE)*

Transesterification of poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) with poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) was investigated bymeans of NMR spectroscopy, extraction experiments, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and phase contrast microscopy(PCM). The ~1H-NMR results show that transesterification takes place in the melt blends and leads to the formation of thePET-PCL copolyester with a chemical structure similar to ethylene terephthalate-ε-caprolactonc copolycster (TCL)synthesized directly from monomers. However, even in the blend that has been transesterified for 8 h, the random PET-PCLcopolyester, PET-PCL copolyester with long PET or long PCL segments and the unreacted PET and PCL homopolymersmay coexist. Due to the low mobility of PET and PCL chains and the high viscosity of the two macromolecules, thetransesterification proceeds with difficulty. Furthermore, PET is incompatible with PCL, the transesterification can onlyoccur at the interface or in the interfacial region between two phases, and finally the reaction can only reach a localequilibrium. These results indicate that in fact the transesterification in the melt blend between two incompatiblehomopolymers could not lead to the formation of completely random or typical block copolyesters.     

Multiarm Star Poly(ε-caprolactone) with Hyperbranched Polyamidoamine as Core Capable of Selective Accommodating Cationic or Anionic Guests

Hyperbranched polyamidoamines(HPAs) were directly employed as macroinitiators to initiate the Sn(Oct)2 catalyzed ring-opening polymerization of ε-caprolactone(CL), resulting in multiarm star copolymers with poly(ε-caprolactone)(PCL) as shells and HPA as core(HPA-b-PCL). From 1H-NMR characterization it was deduced that both the primary amines and the secondary amide groups of HPAs could initiate the CL polymerization, and the initiation efficiency increased when more CL monomers were fed. The average arm-numbers of the obtained stars were in the range of 115-353. Differential scanning calorimetry measurements demonstrated that the melting and crystallization temperatures, fusion and crystallization enthalpy and the degree of crystallinity of the star polymers increased as the PCL arm length increased. HPAb-PCL stars could be used as nanocarriers to efficiently accommodate anionic dyes at acidic condition, while load cationic dyes at basic condition. Compared with the dye-loading behavior of multiarm star PCL with the neutral hyperbranched polyglycerol as core, it was deduced that HPA-b-PCL nanocarriers accommodated anionic dyes using the HPA core, while loaded cationic dyes using both the HPA core and the PCL shell. Dynamic light scattering analyses also supported such deduction. Furthermore, HPA-b-PCL nanocarriers could selectively load the anionic Eosin Y or the cationic methylene blue from their mixture at p H = 6 or 9, respectively, realizing their separation.     

MOLECULAR WEIGHT DEPENDENCE OF THE MELTING BEHAVIOR OF POLY(ε-CAPROLACTONE)

Poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) with different molecular weights was synthesized and characterized by a gelpermeation chromatograph equipped with multiple detector. The melting behavior of PCL was also studied. It was found thatthe equilibrium melting points (T_m~0) of PCL samples depend on their molecular weights. Wide angle X-ray diffractionmeasurements (WAXD) and DSC measurements showed that the crystals of the high molecular weight PCLs were moreperfect than those of the low molecular weigh ones. These results demonstrate that the concentration of the end groups ofPCL chains is the main factor that influences the melting behavior. The fusion enthalpy per repeating unit (ΔH_u) wasdetermined to be 11.3 kJ/mol for PCL.     

Fabrication of highly porous interconnected three-dimensional scaffolds with micro-channels

A novel highly porous 3-D poly(ε-caprolactone)(PCL) scaffold with micro-channels was fabricated by injection molding and diluent acetic acids leaching technologies. In this study, the chitosan fiber was employed to form the microchannel in PCL matrix. The morphology, porosity and mechanical properties of the scaffolds were studied and calculated. It was found that the larger the content of chitosan fiber is, the higher the porosity would be, due to the volumetric expansion of chitosan fiber in PCL matrix during it being leached. In addition, the less the content of chitosan fiber is, the higher the compressive modulus would be.     

AN APPROACH TO SYNTHESIZE POLY(ETHYLENE GLYCOL)-b-POLY(ε-CAPROLACTONE) WITH TERMINAL AMINO GROUP via SCHIFF’S BASE AS AN INITIATOR

A new method to synthesize a degradable terminal amino group-containing copolymer,poly(ethylene glycol)-b- poly(ε-caprolactone)(MPEG-PCL-NH_2),was developed in the following three steps:(1)the ring-opening polymerization (ROP)ofε-caprolactone from the Schiff base prepared from benzatdehyde and ethanolamine(Ph-CH=NCH_2CH_2OH)used as an initiator to obtain heterobifunctional poly(ε-caprolactone)with one terminal Schiff base group and one hydroxyl group (HO-PCL-CH_2CH_2N=CH-Ph);(2)the coupling reaction of two reactive precursors,a hydroxy-terminated HO-PCL- CH_2CH_2N=CH-Ph andα-monocarboxy-ω-monomethoxy poly(ethylene glycol)(CMPEG)to synthesize MPEG-PCL- CH_2CH_2N=CH-Ph;(3)the conversion of the -N=CH-Ph end-group into NH_2 end-group by acidification of acetic acid to obtain MPEG-PCL-NH_2.The structures from the precursors to the terminal amino group-containing copolymer were confirmed by ~1H-NMR and their molecular weights were measured by gel permeation chromatography.The amphiphilic terminal amino group-containing copolymer could self-assemble into micelles in an aqueous system with PCL block as the core and PEG block as the shell.The micelle formation of the terminal amino group-containing block copolymer was studied by fluorescent probe technique and the existence of critical micellar concentration(cmc)confirmed the amphiphilic nature of the resulting copolymer.ESEM and DLS analysis of the micelles revealed a homogeneous spherical morphology and a unimodal size distribution.     

Synthesis and Characterization of Amphiphific Block Copolymer Containing PVP and Poly（5-benzyloxytrimethylene carbonate）

Amphiphilic copolymer of 5-benzyloxytrimethylene carbonate （BTMC） with poly （vinyl pyrrolidone） （PVP） was successfully synthesized using immobilized porcine pancreas lipase （IPPL） or SnOct2 as catalyst. Hydroxyl terminated PVP, synthesized with 2-mercaptoethanol as a chain transfer reagent, was employed as a rnacroinitiator. The resulting copolymers were characterized by GPC, ^1H NMR and IR. Increasing the BTMC/PVP-OH feed ratio （[B]/[P]） resulted in the increase of Mn of corresponding copolymers and the decrease of Mw/Mn. Immobilized enzyme has comparable catalytic activity to SnOct2 for the copolymerization.     

Synthesis and Characterization of Amphiphilic Block Copolymer Containing PVP and Poly(5-benzyloxytrimethylene carbonate)

Amphiphilic block copolymers have attracted great interest recently, especially for thebiomedical uses1, . The hydrophilic blocks improve the biocompatibility of copolymer, 2while the hydrophobic blocks enhance the mechanics of the material and providever…     

Synthesis and Characterization of Monomeric Salicylaldiminato Lanthanide Complexes and Their Catalytic Behavior for Polymerization of ε—Caprolactone

IntroductionSchiffbaseligandscanbeusedtoprovideastereochem icallyrigidligandframeworkinhomogenousprecatalystsofsomemetals,suchassalenCrcatalystsinasymmetricring openingreactionofepoxide1andsalenAlinring openingpolymerizationoflactideandrelatedcyclicesters .2 Recently ,itwasreportedthatthebidentateSchiffbasecomplexesofearlyandlatetransitionmetalscanserveaspromisingalterna tivestometallocenecatalystsforthepolymerizationofα olefins.3Therefore ,theapplicationsofSchiffbaseligandsinorganometallic…     

Increased spherulitic growth rates of semicrystalline polymer due to enhanced limited local chain segmental mobility at the interface of double-layer thin films

In this work the nucleation and growth of spherulites for the below polylactide (PLA) layer in poly(ε-caprolactone)/polylactide (PCL/PLA) double-layer films during isothermal crystallization at various temperatures above the melting point of PCL have been investigated by using polarized optical microscopy (POM). It is revealed that two types of spherulitic morphologies are observed in PCL/PLA double-layer films. One is the well defined highly birefringent spherulites, and the other one is the coarse spherulites. It is interesting to find that the spherulitic growth rate of the coarse spherulites is higher than that of the well defined spherulites. It is thought that the coarse spherulites nucleate and grow with the assistance of the interfaces between the PCL and PLA layers, and the well defined highly birefringent spherulites only nucleate and grow in the PLA layer.     

Synthesis and Characterization of 2-Decyl-DTPA and Its Gd(Ⅲ) Chelate

The present paper covers the synthesis and the characterization of ligand 2-decyl-3, 6, 9-tris(carboxymethyl)-3,6,9-triazaundecan-1,11-dioic acid, H5L, and its Gd(Ⅲ) chelate. The protonation constants for H5L(lgKHi=10.90, 8.50, 4.55, 2.92, 2.20) and the stability constant for GdL2- (lgKGdL2-=22.80) were determined by means of potentiometric titration. They are similar to the corresponding values of DTPA and Gd-DTPA, respectively. The results obtained show that the basicity of the ligand and the stability constant of its Gd(Ⅲ) chelate are not obviously altered after the introduction of a linear chain decyl group into the terminal acetic acid residue of DTPA. The Gd(Ⅲ) chelate may be a potential contrast agent with liver-specificity for magnetic resonance imaging(MRI).