title: Effects of multi-arm structure on crystallization and biodegradation of star-shaped poly(epsilon-caprolactone).
abstract: Star-shaped PCL with one to five arms were synthesized by ROP. They have the same crystal structure as linear PCL, indicating that the central cores are located in amorphous regions. The influence of arm length and number on crystallization and melting behavior were studied by DSC, POM, and through the Avrami equation. A model is proposed to analyze the enzymatic degradation process of star-shaped polymers. The multi-arm structure and the limitation of the central cores on the chain mobility of each arm are considered to be the primary factors influencing the characteristic crystallization and enzymatic degradation behavior of star-shaped PCLs.
authors.affiliation: CAS Key Laboratory of Engineering Plastics, Joint Laboratory of Polymer Materials and Sciences, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100080, China.
authors.forename: Wenyuan
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.forename: Ni
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.forename: Zhihua
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Gan
mesh_terms: D003460:Crystallization; D008956:Models, Chemical; D015394:Molecular Structure; D011091:Polyesters / Q000737:chemistry*; D013329:Structure-Activity Relationship
chemical_list: D011091:Polyesters; C016240:polycaprolactone