Hydrophilic-hydrophobic AB diblock copolymers containing poly (trimethylene carbonate) and poly(ethylene oxide) blocks

AB-type block copolymers with poly(trimethylene carbonate) [poly(TMC); A] and poly(ethylene oxide) [PEO; B; number-average molecular weight (M-n) = 5000] blocks [poly(TMC)-b-PEO] were synthesized via the ring-opening polymerization of trimethylene carbonate (TMC) in the presence of monohydroxy PEO with stannous octoate as a catalyst. M-n of the resulting copolymers increased with increasing TMC content in the feed at a constant molar ratio of the monomer to the catalyst (monomer/catalyst = 125). The thermal properties of the AB diblock copolymers were investigated with differential scanning calorimetry. The melting temperature of the PEO blocks was lower than that of the homopolymer, and the crystallinity of the PEO block decreased as the length of the poly(TMC) blocks increased. The glass-transition temperature of the poly(TMC) blocks was dependent on the diblock copolymer composition upon first heating. The static contact angle decreased sharply with increasing PEO content in the diblock copolymers. Compared with poly(TMC), poly(TMC)-b-PEO had a higher Young's modulus and lower elongation at break. (c) 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.