PLLA Crystallization in Linear AB and BAB Copolymers ofl-Lactide and 2-Dimethylaminoethyl Methacrylate

Abstract

Well-defined poly(l-lactide-b-2-dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate) (PLLA-b-PDMAEMA) linear AB block copolymers and BAB block copolymers with PLLA as the central block (PDMAEMA-b-PLLA-b-PDMAEMA) were synthesized by combined ring-opening polymerization and atom transfer radical polymerization. Molar masses of the PLLA block vary from 13K to 19K and the PDMAEMA block from 5K to 35K. Thermal properties, morphology, and crystallization kinetics of the copolymers were analyzed for crystallization conducted in the bulk, in thick and thin films, and in solution as well as for a limited number of stereocomplexes of diblock and triblock copolymers with poly(d-lactide) in thin films and of partially quaternized diblock copolymers. In the bulk, it is shown that crystallization rates are reduced and morphologies disordered when adding a PDMAEMA block to PLLA; these tendencies are more pronounced in the triblock compared to diblock copolymers of the same PDMAEMA content. Usually, G, the local growth rate, and K, the over...