• Macromolecular Research
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• v.16 no.8
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• pp.704-710
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• 2008

Injectable hydrogels are quite promising materials due to their potential to minimize invasive implantation and this provides versatile fitness irrespective of the damaged regions and facilitates the incorporation of bioactive agents or cells. In situ gel formation through stereocomplex formation is a promising candidate for injectable hydrogels. In this paper, a new series of enantiomeric, four-arm, PEG-PLA block copolymers and their stereocomplexed hydrogels were prepared by bulk ring-opening polymerization of D-lactide and L-lactide, respectively, with stannous octoate as a catalyst. The prepared polymers were characterized by $^1H$ nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, Fourier-transform infrared (FT IR) spectroscopy, gel permeation chromatography (GPC) and thermal gravitational analysis (TGA), confirming the tailored structure and chain lengths. The swelling and degradation behavior of the hydrogels formed from a selected copolymer series were observed in different concentrations. The degradation rate decreased with increasing polymer content in the solution. The rheological behavior indicated that the prepared hydrogel underwent in situ gelation and had favorable mechanical strength. In addition, its feasibility as an injectable scaffold was evaluated using a media dependence test for cell culture. A Tris solution was more favorable for in situ gel formation than PBS and DMEM solutions were. These results demonstrated the in situ formation of hydrogel through the construction of a stereocomplex with enantiomeric, 4-arm, PEG-PLA copolymers. Overall, enantiomeric, 4-arm, PEG-PLA copolymers are a new species of stereocomplexed hydrogels that are suitable for further research into injectable hydrogels.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.473-481
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• 2014

Poly(lactide)s(PLA) is an attractive material to solve the problem of waste plastic accumulation in nature because of its biodegradability. The lactide exists in three stereoisomeric configurations: L-lactide, D-lactide, and meso-lactide. PLA stereocomplexes, formed by the mixing of two enantiomers, poly(L-lactide)(PLLA) and poly(D-lactide)(PDLA), have many favorable characteristics because the stereocomplex showed $50^{\circ}C$ higher melting point than each enantiomeric polymer and the resistance toward degradation increased. In this study, we investigated the influence of the composition and the optical purity of each component on the formation of stereocomplexes. Also, the nanofibers of stereochemical PLA and their blends were prepared by electrospinning method. The properties of the obtained fibers were analyzed by differential scanning calorimetry and scanning electron microscopy. The results showed that a degree of stereocomplex was controlled by change of optical purity of each component. The enzymatic degradation of the fibers were strongly dependent on the stereocomplex.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.919-925
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• 2012

We tried to blend PLLA and PDLA at overall compositions to form PLA stereocomplexes (SC). The presence of the SC crystalline phase in the PLLA matrix was verified by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). As a result, a various PDLA composition of the PLA SC blends can influence PLA SC formation. And the largest amount of PLA SC crystallites was formed when PLLA/PDLA ratio is 50/50. In addition, we have tried to do PLA SC toughening with two impact modifiers in 92/8, 85/15 ratio of PLLA/PDLA to enhance the mechanical properties such as impact strength. Thermal and mechanical properties of PLA SC were investigated by DSC, HDT, Izod impact tester and UTM. PLA SC formation decreased when 10-20 wt% of Strong120 (impact modifier) was added. On the other hand, there is no effect on PLA SC formation when 10-20% of Elvaloy (impact modifier) was added. HDT values dramatically increased over $100^{\circ}C$ with the addition of PDLA. However, HDT decreased as Strong120 and Elvaloy content increased. Finally, we could find well balanced composition of toughened PLA SC with 10wt% of impact modifier in flexural modulus and impact strength.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.453-460
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• 2015

Engineering the polylactide via stereocomplexation with supercritical fluid (SCF) technology paved way to fabricate polymers with enhanced thermal and mechanical properties. We aimed to establish a SCF medium with excellent solubility for PLA without any additional solvent/co-solvent. We, therefore, employed supercritical dimethyl ether to synthesize 100% stereocomplex polylactide from high molecular weight homopolymers with an excellent yield. The remarkable solubility of the homopolymers in dimethyl ether is the key for quick conversion to s-PLA. This study proves a rapid synthesis route of dry s-PLA powder with sc-DME at 250 bar, $70^{\circ}C$ and 1.5 h, which are reasonably achievable processing parameters compared to the conventional methods. The degree of stereocomplexation was evaluated under the effect of pressures, temperatures, times, homopolymer-concentrations and molecular weights. An increment in the degree of stereocomplexation was observed with increased temperature and pressure. Complete conversion to s-PLA was obtained for PLLA and PDLA with $M_n{\sim}200kg{\cdot}mol^{-1}$ with a total homopolymer to total DME ratio of 6:100% w/w at prescribed reaction conditions. The degree of stereocomplexation was determined by DSC and confirmed by XRD. Considerable improvement in thermo-mechanical properties of s-PLA was observed. DSC and TGA analyses proved a $50^{\circ}C$ enhancement in melting transition and a high onset temperature for thermal degradation of s-PLA respectively.

• Proceedings of the Polymer Society of Korea Conference
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• 2006.10a
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• pp.52-53
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• 2006

A new series of PEO-PPO-PEO and PPO-PEO-PPO copolymers having several hydroxyl groups on the PPO chain segment were synthesized, further modified with various poly(lactic acid) PLA oligomeric chains to confer physical stability after thermo-gelation in the body fluid. Gel stability was endowed by either increasing hydrophobic interaction between PLA chains or inducing stereocomplex formation between enatiomeric isomers of PLA chains. Macromolecular drugs were incorporated within the gels and their release patterns were investigated using Pluronic F127 as a control.