POS1-1314
Topology-controlled polyglycerol-g-polylactide copolymers: synthesis and stereocomplex formation
Topic
S1. Polymer Synthesis
When and Where
Sep 29, 2026
08:30 - 09:30
Room 301 (Grand Ballroom)
Session Chairs
Hae Jung SON
Boseok KANG
Presenter(s)
JUNUI WI (Dongguk University)
Co-Author(s)
Abstract
Polymer topology significantly influences the physical properties and functions of polymeric materials. In this study, topology-controlled polyglycerols (PGs) were employed as macroinitiators for the ring-opening polymerization (ROP) of L- and D-lactide to prepare biodegradable polylactide(PLA) graft copolymers. The ultimate objective is to investigate the effect of polymer topology on stereocomplex formation and mechanical properties. To optimize the polymerization conditions, ethanol and isopropanol were selected as model initiators representing the primary and secondary hydroxyl groups of PG, respectively. Using DBU as an organocatalyst in dichloromethane, both initiators achieved monomer conversions above 90% within 120 min, indicating that both hydroxyl groups efficiently initiate the ROP of lactide under the optimized conditions. Based on these results, branched cyclic polyglycerol (bc-PG) was applied as a macroinitiator for the graft polymerization of L- and D-lactide. Both polymerizations reached monomer conversions exceeding 90% within 120 min with comparable kinetics. The purified graft copolymers were characterized by ¹H NMR spectroscopy, confirming the successful synthesis of bc-PG-g-PLLA and bc-PG-g-PDLA with PLA side-chain degrees of polymerization of 42 and 38, respectively. The optimized polymerization strategy will be extended to hyperbranched polyglycerol (hb-PG) to prepare a series of topology-controlled PLA graft copolymers. Subsequently, stereocomplexes will be fabricated from the corresponding PLLA and PDLA graft copolymers, and the effects of polymer topology on stereocomplex formation and mechanical properties will be systematically investigated.
