PURPOSE Polycaprolactone (PCL) is a biodegradable polyester and has attracted attention as a suitable carrier for development of controlled drug delivery due to its non-toxicity and biocompatibility. It has been reported that the biodegradability of PCL can be enhanced by copolymerization with PEG. Molecular weight (Mw) and CL block lengths optimization in a series of synthesized PCEC copolymer...

Studies of the structural polymorphism exhibited by block copolymers in the presence of selective solvents are relatively recent, but very promising in terms of fundamental understanding and practical applications. Highlighting recent advances, this review progresses from ‘dry’ ordered ( ) copolymers to solvated ordered gel-like copolymers and ( ) lastly to solvated disordered but locally organ...

Supramolecular self-assembly of block copolymers in aqueous solution has received ever-increasing interest over the past few decades due to diverse biological and technological applications in drug delivery, imaging, sensing and catalysis. In addition to relative block lengths, molecular weights and solution conditions, chain architectures of block copolymers can also dramatically affect their ...

Geminal disubstitution on silicon in dialkylsilylene-spaced divinylarene copolymers may dictate the conformation and photophysical properties of the copolymers, bulky (i)Pr substituted copolymers being more folded than Me substituent analogues.

We perform Monte-Carlo simulations of a binary, strongly separated mixture of A- and B-type homopolymers with some amount of random AB copolymers added. The interface is analyzed and the interface tension is calculated using the model of capillary waves. We can clearly demonstrate that random copolymers are localized at real, fluctuating interfaces between incompatible polymer species and micel...

This study describes a new method to prepare monodisperse polystyrene (PS) colloidal nanoparticles with controlled size ranging from 60 nm to 140 nm by the direct polymerization of styrene and divinylbenzene inside the bilayers of the polydisperse hyperbranched polymer vesicles.

A novel A2-B3-type supramolecular hyperbranched polymer was prepared based on the benzo-21-crown-7/secondary ammonium salt recognition motif. The resulting supramolecular polymer exhibited a reversible disassembled-assembled process by adding or removing potassium ions.

Cyclic olefin copolymers comprise a new class of polymeric materials showing properties of high glass-transition temperature, optical clarity, low shrinkage, low moisture absorption, and low birefringence. There are several types of cyclic olefin copolymers based on different types of cyclic monomers and polymerization methods. In this work, we have analyzed the chemical structure of the curren...

The development of stimuli responsive polymers has progressed significantly with novel preparation techniques, which has allowed access to new materials with unique properties. Dual thermoresponsive (double temperature responsive) block copolymers are particularly of interest as their properties can change depending on the lower critical solution temperature (LCST) or upper critical solution te...

Biofunctional block copolymers are becoming increasingly attractive materials as active components in biosensors and other nanoscale electronic devices. We have described two different classes of block copolymers with biofuctional properties. Biofunctionality for block copolymers is achieved through functionalization with appropriate biospecific ligands. We have synthesized block copolymers of ...