Organogelation behavior and thermal properties of supramolecular polymer network composed of carboxy- and pyridyl-terminated 4-arm star-shaped ε-caprolactone oligomers

Synthesis of ultra-small branched star poly(ε-caprolactone)s and their high end group concentration effects on crystallization

“…For this reason, the precise synthesis of SPCLs with extremely small branches is not as easy as we think it will be, although they have highly attractive advantages, including high biocompatibility, facile control over degradation, low softening and melting points, low crystallinity, and good miscibility with other materials compared with conventional SPCLs . Recently, Shibita et al reported the synthesis of tetra‐armed SPCL with extremely small branches to use as semi‐interpenetrating polymer networks . Tetra‐armed SPCL appeared to be successfully synthesized, but it had a low yield (76%).…”

Viscoelastic properties of supramolecular soft materials with transient polymer network

“…To develop more functional materials, supramolecular soft materials with transient polymer networks have been studied extensively in recent years, where the term “transient” implies that the network is formed by the reversible crosslinks with time‐dependence (or finite lifetime) . Unlike the conventional gels with “permanent” networks formed by covalent bonded crosslinks, the materials with transient polymer networks present stimuli‐responsiveness such as thermo‐ and pH‐responsiveness .…”

Semi-interpenetrating polymer networks composed of poly(l-lactide) and diisocyanate-bridged 4-arm star-shaped ɛ-caprolactone oligomers

“…Recently, star-shaped biodegradable polyesters and the polymer networks made from end-functionalized star polymers have gathered increasing attention as the biomaterials having the functions such as controlled release of drug, stimuli-responsivity, and shape-memory in addition to the environmentally benign materials having tailor-made thermal, mechanical and biodegradable properties [26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35]. For example, Hakala et al reported the photo-crosslinked biodegradable polymer network derived from a 4-arm star-shaped ε-caprolactone oligomer, which is applicable to a drug delivery system [29].…”

“…A C C E P T E D H4CLO n 's were synthesized by the ring-opening reactions of CL initiated from PERT at the CL/PERT molar ratios of 12/1, 20/1 and 40/1 according to the procedure already reported ( Figure 1) [31,33]. The n values for (H4CLO n 's: n = 3, 5 and 10) measured by 1 H-NMR method were 3.0, 4.9 and 9.7, respectively.…”