Composition fluctuation and domain spacing of low molar weight PEO–PPO–PEO triblock copolymers in the melt, during crystallization and in the solid state

Transcrystalline Mechanism of Banded Spherulites Development in Melt-Crystallized Semicrystalline Polymers

The decades-long paradigm of continuous and perpetual lamellar twisting constituting banded spherulites has been found to be inconsistent with several recent studies showing discontinuity regions between consecutive bands, for which, however, no explanation has been found. The present research demonstrates, in three different semicrystalline polymers (HDPE, PEG10000 and Pluronic F-127), that sequential transcrystallinity is the predominant mechanism of banded spherulite formation, heterogeneously nucleated on intermittent self-shear-oriented amorphous layers excluded during the crystals' growth. It is hereby demonstrated that a transcrystalline layer can be nucleated on amorphous self-shear-oriented polymer chains in the melt, by a local melt flow in the bulk or in contact with any interface-even in contact with the interface with air, e.g., in contact with an entrapped air bubble or at the edges of the sample-or nucleated following the multiple directions and orientations induced by a turbulent flow. The bilateral excessive local exclusion of amorphous non-crystallizable material, following a short period of initial non-banded growth, is found to be the source of dislocations leading to spirally banded spherulites, through the transcrystalline layers' nucleation thereon. The present research reveals and demonstrates the sequential transcrystalline morphology of banded spherulites and the mechanism of its formation, which may lead to new insights in the understanding and design of polymer processing for specific applications.

Crystallization of bifonazole and acetaminophen within the matrix of semicrystalline, PEO-PPO-PEO triblock copolymers

The morphology and microstructure of crystalline drug/polymer solid dispersions could influence their physical stability and dissolution performance. In this study, the drug crystallization mechanism within PEG, PPG, and poloxamer matrix was investigated, and the resultant microstructure of various solid dispersions of acetaminophen (ACM) and bifonazole (BFZ) in the aforementioned polymers was characterized by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), polarized optical microscopy (POM), and wide/small-angle X-ray diffraction (WAXD/SAXS). With a stronger molecular interaction with the PEG segments, ACM decreased the crystallization onset temperature and crystallinity of PEG and poloxamers much more than BFZ. The stronger molecular interaction and better miscibility between ACM and PEG also induced a more defective lamellar structure in the ACM solid dispersions compared with that in the BFZ systems, as revealed by DSC and SAXS investigation. Observed under polarized optical microscopy, PEG, PPG, and poloxamer could all significantly improve the crystallization rate of ACM and BFZ, because of the largely reduced Tg of the solid dispersions by these low Tg polymers. Moreover, when the drug loading was below 60%, crystallization of BFZ in PEG or poloxamer occurred preferably along the radial direction of PEG spherulite, rather than the perpendicular direction, which was attributed to the geometric restriction of well-ordered polymer lamellar structure in the BFZ solid dispersions. Similar phenomena were not observed in the ACM solid dispersions regardless of the drug loading, presumably because ACM could diffuse freely across the perpendicular direction of the PEG spherulite, through the well-connected interlamellar or interfibrillar spaces produced by the defective PEG lamellar structure. The different drug-polymer interaction also caused a difference in the microstructure of polymer crystal, as well as a difference in drug distribution within the polymer matrix, which then synergistically facilitated a "confined crystallization" process to reduce the drug crystallite size below 100 nm.

Photoinduced ordering of block copolymers

Photoinduced ordering of disordered block copolymers (BCPs) would provide an on-demand, nonintrusive route for formation of well-ordered nanostructures in arbitrarily defined regions of an otherwise disordered material. Here we achieve this objective using a rapid and simple approach in which photoconversion of an additive blended with the BCP introduces strong interactions between the additive and one of the chain segments and induces strong order in the BCP blend. The strategy is generally applicable to block copolymers containing chain segments capable of hydrogen bonding with the additive.