Synthesis and characterization of tercopolymers derived from ε‐caprolactone,trimethylene carbonate,and lactide

A series of tri‐components copolymers with different molar ratios were synthesized via bulk ring‐opening copolymerization of trimethylene carbonate (TMC), L ‐lactide (LLA), and ε‐caprolactone (ε‐CL), using stannous octoate as catalyst. The sequence structure of the tercopolymer chain was characterized by ¹H and ¹³C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), and gel permeation chromatography (GPC). The results showed that although block sequence of the corresponding monomers still existed in the tercopolymer chain, the random tercopolymers were ultimately obtained due to the transesterification during polymerization. For the samples TP1 and TP2, longer sequence of LLA existed in the molecular chains. The thermal properties of tercopolymers were investigated by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and the mechanical properties of the resulting copolymers were studied by using a tensile tester. The results indicated that the properties of these copolymers could be adjusted by changing the compositions of the copolymers. The resulting tercopolymers are expected to have potential uses as nerve regeneration and other biomedicine materials. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Deformation behavior of electrospun poly(L‐lactide‐co‐ε‐caprolactone) nonwoven membranes under uniaxial tensile loading

Biodegradable poly(L ‐lactide‐co‐ε‐caprolactone) copolymers with different L ‐lactide (LLA)/ε‐caprolactone (CL) ratios of 75/25 and 50/50 were electrospun into fine fibers. The deformation behavior of the electrospun membranes with randomly oriented structures was evaluated under uniaxial tensile loading. The electrospun membrane with a higher LLA content showed a significantly higher tensile modulus but a similar maximum stress and a lower ultimate strain in comparison with the membrane with a lower LLA content. The beaded fibers that formed in the membranes caused lower tensile properties. X‐ray diffraction and differential scanning calorimetry results suggested that the electrospun fine fibers developed highly oriented structures in CL‐unit sequences during the electrospinning process even though the concentration was only 25 wt %. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 43: 3205–3212, 2005     

Controlling the Poly(ε‐caprolactone) Degradation to Maintain the Stemness and Function of Adipose‐Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells in Vascular Regeneration Application

Biodegradable poly(ε‐caprolactone) (PCL) scaffolds with adipose‐derived mesenchymal stem cells (ADSCs) have been used in vascular regeneration studies. An evaluation method of the effect of PCL degradation products (DP) on the viability, stemness, and differentiation capacities of ADSCs is established. ADSCs are cultured in medium containing different concentrations of PCL DP before evaluating the effect of PCL DP on the cell apoptosis and proliferation, cell surface antigens, adipogenic and osteogenic differentiation capacities, and capacities to differentiate into endothelial cells and smooth muscle cells. The results demonstrate that PCL DP exceed 0.05 mg mL^?1 may change the stemness and differentiation capacities of ADSCs. Therefore, to control the proper concentration of PCL DP is essential for ADSCs in vascular regeneration application.     

Synthesis and characterization of poly(L‐lactide‐co‐ε‐caprolactone) (B)‐poly(L‐lactide) (A) ABA block copolymers

ABA triblock copolymers of L ‐lactide (LL) and ε‐caprolactone (CL), designated as PLL‐P(LL‐co‐CL)‐PLL, were synthesized via a two‐step ring‐opening polymerization in bulk using diethylene glycol and stannous octoate as the initiating system. In the first‐step reaction, an approximately 50:50 mol% P(LL‐co‐CL) random copolymer (prepolymer) was prepared as the middle (B) block. This was then chain extended in the second‐step reaction by terminal block polymerization with more L ‐lactide. The percentage yields of the triblock copolymers were in excess of 95%. The prepolymers and triblock copolymers were characterized using a combination of dilute‐solution viscometry, gel permeation chromatography (GPC), ¹H‐ and ¹³C‐NMR, and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). It was found that the molecular weight of the prepolymer was controlled primarily by the diethylene glycol concentration. All of the triblock copolymers had molecular weights higher than their respective prepolymers. ¹³C‐NMR analysis confirmed that the prepolymers contained at least some random character and that the triblock copolymers consisted of additional terminal PLL end (A) blocks. From their DSC curves, the triblock copolymers were seen to be semi‐crystalline in morphology. Their glass transition, solid‐state crystallization, and melting temperature ranges, together with their heats of melting, all increased as the PLL end (A) block length increased. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Crosslinking of Poly(L‐lactide) by γ‐Irradiation

The radiation crosslinking of poly(L ‐lactide) (PLLA) was investigated using triallyl isocyanurate (TAIC) as a crosslinking agent. The gel fraction of crosslinked PLLA increased with TAIC concentration and γ‐ray dose. Crosslinking of PLLA started at low TAIC contents and low γ‐ray dosage. Differential scanning calorimetry and dynamic mechanical thermal analysis revealed that PLLA was completely crosslinked at high weight ratios and high γ‐ray doses.     

Ring‐opening polymerization of ε‐caprolactone and L‐lactide from silica nanoparticles surface

Coating of silica nanoparticles by biocompatible and biodegradable polymers of ε‐caprolactone and L ‐lactide was performed in situ by ring‐opening polymerization of the cyclic monomers with aluminum, yttrium, and tin alkoxides as catalysts. Hydroxyl groups were introduced on the silica surface by grafting of a prehydrolyzed 3‐glycidoxypropyl trimethoxysilane to initiate a catalytic polymerization in the presence of metal alkoxides. In this manner, free polymer chains were formed to grafted ones, and the graft density was controlled by the nature of the metal and the alcohol‐to‐metal ratio. The grafting reaction was extensively characterized by spectroscopic techniques and quantified. Nanocomposites containing up to 96% of polymer were obtained by this technique. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 42: 1976–1984, 2004     

Synthesis and characterization of poly(3,3 bis(azidomethyl)oxetane‐co‐ε‐caprolactone)s

The quasi‐living cationic copolymerization of 3,3‐bis(chloromethyl)oxetane (BCMO) and ε‐caprolactone (ε‐CL), using boron trifluoride etherate as catalyst and 1,4‐butanediol as coinitiator, was investigated in methylene chloride at 0°C. The resulting hydroxyl‐ended copolymers exhibit a narrow molecular weight polydispersity and a functionality of about 2. The reactivity ratios of BCMO (0.26) and ε‐CL (0.47), and the T_g of the copolymers, indicate their statistical character. The synthesis of poly(3,3‐bis(azidomethyl)oxetane‐co‐ε‐caprolactone) from poly(BCMO‐co‐ε‐CL) via the substitution of the chlorine atoms by azide groups, using sodium azide in DMSO at 110°C, occurs without any degradation, but the copolymers decompose at about 240°C. All polymers were characterized by vapor pressure osmometry or steric exclusion chromatography, ¹H‐NMR and FTIR spectroscopies, and DSC. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci A: Polym Chem 37: 1027–1039, 1999     

Synthesis and properties of photocurable biodegradable multiblock copolymers based on poly(ε‐caprolactone) and poly(L‐lactide) segments

Photocurable biodegradable multiblock copolymers were synthesized from poly(ε‐caprolactone) (PCL) diol and poly(L ‐lactide) (PLLA) diol with 4,4′‐(adipoyldioxy)dicinnamic acid (CAC) dichloride as a chain extender derived from adipoyl chloride and 4‐hydroxycinnamic acid, and they were characterized with Fourier transform infrared and ¹H NMR spectroscopy, gel permeation chromatography, wide‐angle X‐ray diffraction, differential scanning calorimetry, and tensile tests. The copolymers were irradiated with a 400‐W high‐pressure mercury lamp from 30 min to 3 h to form a network structure in the absence of photoinitiators. The gel concentration increased with time, and a concentration of approximately 90% was obtained in 90–180 min for all the films. The photocuring hardly affected the crystallinity and melting temperature of the PCL segments but reduced the crystallinity of the PLLA segments. The mechanical properties, such as the tensile strength, modulus, and elongation, were significantly affected by the copolymer compositions and gel concentrations. Shape‐memory properties were determined with cyclic thermomechanical experiments. The CAC/PCL and CAC/PCL/PLLA (75/25) films photocured for 30–120 min showed good shape‐memory properties with strain fixity rates and recovery rates of approximately 100%. The formation of the network structure and the crystallization and melting of the PCL segments played very important roles for the typical shape‐memory properties. Finally, the degradation characteristics of these copolymers were investigated in a phosphate buffer solution at 37 °C with proteinase‐k and Pseudomonas cepacia lipase. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 43: 2426–2439, 2005     

Control of Osteogenic Differentiation and Mineralization of Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells on Composite Nanofibers Containing Poly[lactic‐co‐(glycolic acid)] and Hydroxyapatite

We fabricated composite fibrous scaffolds from blends of poly(lactide‐co‐glycolide) (PLGA) and nano‐sized hydroxyapatite (HA) via electrospinning. SEM‐EDX and AFM analysis demonstrated that HA was homogeneously dispersed in the nanofibers, and the roughness increased along with the amount of incorporated HA. When hMSCs were cultured on these PLGA/HA composite nanofibers, we found that incorporation of HA on the nanofibers did not affect cell viability whereas increased ALP activity and expression of osteogenic genes as well as the calcium mineralization of hMSCs. Our results indicate that the composite nanofibers can be offered as a potential bone regenerative biomaterial for stem cell based therapies.

     

Microwave syntheses of poly(ε‐caprolactam‐co‐ε‐caprolactone)

Microwave irradiation was applied to synthesize poly(ε‐caprolactam‐co‐ε‐caprolactone) directly from the anionic catalyzed ring opening of two cyclic monomers, ε‐caprolactam and ε‐caprolactone using a variable frequency microwave furnace, programmed to a set temperature and controlled by a pulsed power on–off system. Dielectric properties of ε‐caprolactam, ε‐caprolactone, and their mixture were measured in the microwave range from 0.4 to 3 GHz, showing that both ε‐caprolactam and ε‐caprolactone exhibited effective absorption of microwave energy to induce a fast chemical reaction. The microwave induced anionic copolymerization of ε‐caprolactam and ε‐caprolactone generated copoly(amide‐ester)s in yields as high as 70%. Conventional thermal and microwave copolymerization studies were also conducted for comparison with the microwave results. These studies demonstrated that an effective and efficient microwave method to copolymerize ε‐caprolactam with ε‐caprolactone in higher yield, higher amide content, and higher T_g 's, relative to the thermal process, has been developed. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci A: Polym Chem 38: 1379–1390, 2000     

Preparation of Porous Poly(ε‐caprolactone) Structures

Porous poly(ε‐caprolactone) structures have been prepared by leaching of compression moulded salt‐containing polymer precipitates. Coagulation takes place when a PCL solution containing dispersed water‐soluble salt particles is precipitated into an excess of non‐solvent. Porous scaffolds are obtained after leaching of the compression moulded polymer‐salt precipitate. This process yields scaffolds with a very homogeneous pore morphology and independent control of pore size and porosity.     

Nonisothermal crystallization kinetics of poly(ε‐caprolactone) blocks in double crystalline triblock copolymers containing poly(3‐hydroxybutyrate‐co‐3‐hydroxyvalerate) and poly(ε‐caprolactone) units

The poly(3‐hydroxbutyrate‐co‐3‐hydroxyvalerate)/poly(ε‐caprolactone) block copolymers (PHCLs) with three different weight ratios of PCL blocks (38%, named PHCL‐38; 53%, named PHCL‐53; and 60%, named PHCL‐60) were synthesized by using PHBV with two hydroxyl end groups to initiate ring‐opening polymerization of ε‐caprolactone. During DSC cooling process, melt crystallization of PHCL‐53 at relatively high cooling rates (9, 12, and 15 °C min^?1) and PHCL‐60 at all the selected cooling rates corresponded to PCL blocks so that PHCL‐53 and PHCL‐60 were used to study the nonisothermal crystallization behaviors of PCL blocks. The kinetics of PCL blocks in PHCL‐53 and PHCL‐60 under nonisothermal crystallization conditions were analyzed by Mo equation. Mo equation was successful in describing the nonisothermal crystallization kinetics of PCL blocks in PHCLs. Crystallization activation energy were estimated using Kissinger's method. The results of kinetic parameters showed that both blocks crystallized more difficultly than corresponding homopolymers. With the increase of PCL content, the crystallization rate of PCL block increased gradually. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys, 2010     

Physical Properties and Erosion Behavior of Poly(trimethylene carbonate‐co‐ε‐caprolactone) Networks

Form‐stable resorbable networks are prepared by gamma irradiating trimethylene carbonate (TMC)‐ and ε‐caprolactone (CL)‐based (co)polymer films. To evaluate their suitability for biomedical applications, their physical properties and erosion behavior are investigated. Homopolymer and copolymer networks that are amorphous at room temperature are flexible and rubbery with elastic moduli ranging from 1.8 ± 0.3 to 5.2 ± 0.4 MPa and permanent set values as low as 0.9% strain. The elastic moduli of the semicrystalline networks are higher and range from 61 ± 3 to 484 ± 34 MPa. The erosion behavior of (co)polymer networks is investigated in vitro using macrophage cultures, and in vivo by subcutaneous implantation in rats. In macrophage cultures, as well as upon implantation, a surface erosion process is observed for the amorphous (co)polymer networks, while an abrupt decrease in the rate and a change in the nature of the erosion process are observed with increasing crystallinity. These resorbable and form‐stable networks with tuneable properties may find application in a broad range of biomedical applications.

     

Poly(ε‐caprolactone)‐Based Organogels and Hydrogels with Poly(ethylene glycol) Cross‐Linkings

Summary: The reaction of triphosgene with poly(ethylene glycol) yielded poly(ethylene glycol) dichloroformate. This difunctional cross‐linker was allowed to react with poly(ε‐caprolactone) bearing carbanionic sites obtained by activation with lithium diisopropylamide. The reaction resulted in the cross‐linking of poly(ε‐caprolactone) chains by poly(ethylene glycol) segments, giving copolymer networks that gel in both organic and aqueous media.

Schematic of the PCL‐g‐PEG copolymers synthesized here.     

Synthesis of biodegradable thermoplastic elastomers from ε‐caprolactone and lactide

This article reports the synthesis and the properties of novel thermoplastic elastomers of A‐B‐A type triblock copolymer structure, where the hard segment A is poly(l ‐lactide) (PLLA) and the soft segment B is poly(ε‐caprolactone‐stat‐d ,l ‐lactide) (P(CL‐stat‐DLLA)). The P(CL‐stat‐DLLA) block with DLLA content of 30 mol % was applied because of its amorphous nature and low glass transition temperature (T_g = approximately ?40 °C). Successive polymerization of l ‐lactide afforded PLLA‐block‐P(CL‐stat‐DLLA)‐block‐PLLAs, which exhibited melting temperature (T_m = approximately 150 °C) for the crystalline PLLA segments and still low T_g (approximately ?30 °C) of the soft segments. The triblock copolymers showed very high elongation at break up to approximately 2800% and elastic properties. The corresponding d ‐triblock copolymers, PDLA‐block‐P(CL‐stat‐DLLA)‐block‐PDLAs (PDLA = poly(d ‐lactide)) were also prepared with the same procedure using d ‐lactide in place of l ‐lactide. When the PLLA‐block‐P(CL‐stat‐DLLA)‐block‐PLLA was blended with PDLA‐block‐P(CL‐stat‐DLLA)‐block‐PDLA, stereocomplex crystals were formed to enhance their T_m as well as tensile properties. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2015 , 53, 489–495     

Complex phase behavior and state of miscibility in Poly(ethylene glycol)/Poly(l‐lactide‐co‐ε‐caprolactone) Blends

A miscibility and phase behavior study was conducted on poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG)/poly(l ‐lactide‐ε‐caprolactone) (PLA‐co‐CL) blends. A single glass transition evolution was determined by differential scanning calorimetry initially suggesting a miscible system; however, the unusual T_g bias and subsequent morphological study conducted by polarized light optical microscopy (PLOM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) evidenced a phase separated system for the whole range of blend compositions. PEG spherulites were found in all blends except for the PEG/PLA‐co‐CL 20/80 composition, with no interference of the comonomer in the melting point of PEG (T_m = 64 °C) and only a small one in crystallinity fraction (X_c = 80% vs. 70%). However, a clear continuous decrease in PEG spherulites growth rate (G) with increasing PLA‐co‐CL content was determined in the blends isothermally crystallized at 37 °C, G being 37 µm/min for the neat PEG and 12 µm/min for the 20 wt % PLA‐co‐CL blend. The kinetics interference in crystal growth rate of PEG suggests a diluting effect of the PLA‐co‐CL in the blends; further, PLOM and AFM provided unequivocal evidence of the interfering effect of PLA‐co‐CL on PEG crystal morphology, demonstrating imperfect crystallization in blends with interfibrillar location of the diluting amorphous component. Significantly, AFM images provided also evidence of amorphous phase separation between PEG and PLA‐co‐CL. A true T_g vs. composition diagram is proposed on the basis of the AFM analysis for phase separated PEG/PLA‐co‐CL blends revealing the existence of a second PLA‐co‐CL rich phase. According to the partial miscibility established by AFM analysis, PEG and PLA‐co‐CL rich phases, depending on blend composition, contain respectively an amount of the minority component leading to a system presenting, for every composition, two T_g's that are different of those of pure components. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci. Part B: Polym. Phys. 2014 , 52, 111–121     

Synthesis and Characterization of Double Crystalline Cyclic Diblock Copolymers of Poly(ε‐caprolactone) and Poly(l(d)‐lactide) (c(PCL‐b‐ PL(D)LA))

The synthesis of symmetric cyclo poly(ε‐caprolactone)–block–poly(l (d )‐lactide) (c(PCL–b–PL(D)LA)) by combining ring‐opening polymerization of ε‐caprolactone and lactides and subsequent click chemistry reaction of the linear precursors containing antagonist functionalities is presented. The two blocks can sequentially crystallize and self‐assemble into double crystalline spherulitic superstructures. The cyclic chain topology significantly affects both the nucleation and the crystallization of each constituent, as gathered from a comparison of the behavior of linear precursors and cyclic block copolymers. The stereochemistry of the PLA block does not have a significant effect on the nonisothermal crystallization of both linear and cyclo PCL‐b‐PDLA and PCL‐b‐PLLA copolymers.

     

Fast degradable poly(L‐lactide‐co‐ε‐caprolactone) microspheres for tissue engineering: Synthesis,characterization, and degradation behavior

Polymeric scaffolds play a crucial role in engineering process of new tissues and effect the cell growth and viability. PLCL copolymers are found to be very useful during cell growth due to their elastic behavior and mechanical strength. Thus, low molecular weight PLCL copolymers of various ratios viz. PLCL(90/10), PLCL(75/25), PLCL(50/50) and PCL were synthesized by ring opening polymerization using stannous octoate as a catalyst. Synthesized polymers were characterized by GPC, ¹H‐NMR, FTIR and XRD. The thermal properties of the copolymers were studied using TGA and DSC. Microspheres of about 100 μm diameter were prepared for different copolymers and their in vitro degradation behaviors were studied up to 108 days. It was observed that degradation of PLA content in polymer backbone occurs faster than PCL component which is also indicated by corresponding change in ratios of PLA/PCL, as determined by ¹H‐NMR. SEM images of microspheres depicted the surface morphology during degradation and suggested the faster degradation for PLCL (50:50). Copolymers of different thermal, mechanical properties and different degradation behaviors can be prepared by adjusting the composition of copolymers. Various synthesized polymers from this work have been tested in our laboratory as polymeric scaffold for soft tissue engineering. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 45: 2755–2764, 2007     

L,L‐Lactide and ε‐Caprolactone Block Copolymers by a ‘Poly(L,L‐lactide) Block First’ Route

L,L ‐lactide (LA) and ε‐caprolactone (CL) block copolymers have been prepared by initiating the poly(ε‐caprolactone) (PCL) block growth with living poly(L,L ‐lactide) (PLA*). In the previous attempts to prepare block copolymers this way only random copolyesters were obtained because the PLA* + CL cross‐propagation rate was lower than that of the PLA–CL* + PLA transesterification. The present paper shows that application of Al‐alkoxide active centers that bear bulky diphenolate ligands results in efficient suppression of the transesterification. Thus, the corresponding well‐defined di‐ and triblock copolymers could be prepared.