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Synthesis and characterization of novel comb-type amphiphilic graft copolymers containing polypropylene and polyethylene glycol

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Abstract

Amphiphilic comb-type graft copolymers containing polypropylene (PP) and polyethylene glycol (PEG) have been prepared. Polypropylene-g-polyethylene glycol comb-type thermoplastic amphiphilic copolymers were synthesized by the reaction between chlorinated polypropylene and polyethylene glycol in the presence of a base via a “grafting to” technique. A series of graft copolymers containing PEGs with molecular weights of 600 and 2,000 Da in the range of 4–34 mol% PEG were obtained. The amphiphilic graft copolymers with PEG segments in range between 20 and 30 mol% PEG displayed good film properties with elongation at break 275–440%. The hydrophilicity of the amphiphilic copolymers increases with the increasing PEG content in the copolymer while the mechanical properties decrease. Therefore, PP-g-PEG2000 with PEG contents in the range of 20–30 mol% PEG should be useful for medical and industrial applications where good film properties are needed.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by TUBITAK (grant# 108T423), USA Airforce and Zonguldak Karaelmas University (grants# 2008-13-02-03 and 2008-70-01-01). The authors would like to thank Zekeriya Doğan, Yusuf Kayalı, Pınar Dağıdır, and Sonay Taşçı for their technical assistance.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry, Zonguldak Karaelmas University, 67100, Zonguldak, Turkey

    Murat Balcı, Abdulkadir Allı & Baki Hazer

  2. Department of Chemistry, Hacettepe University, Beytepe, 06532, Ankara, Turkey

    Olgun Güven

  3. Department of Polymer Engineering, University of Akron, Akron, OH, 44325-0301, USA

    Kevin Cavicchi & Mukerrem Cakmak

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  1. Murat Balcı
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  2. Abdulkadir Allı
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Correspondence to Baki Hazer.

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Balcı, M., Allı, A., Hazer, B. et al. Synthesis and characterization of novel comb-type amphiphilic graft copolymers containing polypropylene and polyethylene glycol. Polym. Bull. 64, 691–705 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00289-009-0211-3

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