PMID- 31013916
OWN - NLM
STAT- PubMed-not-MEDLINE
LR  - 20231011
IS  - 2073-4360 (Electronic)
IS  - 2073-4360 (Linking)
VI  - 11
IP  - 4
DP  - 2019 Apr 13
TI  - Synthesis and Electrospinning of Polycaprolactone from an Aluminium-Based 
      Catalyst: Influence of the Ancillary Ligand and Initiators on Catalytic 
      Efficiency and Fibre Structure.
LID - 10.3390/polym11040677 [doi]
LID - 677
AB  - In the present study, we investigated the catalytic performance of a 
      2,2'-methylenebis(6-tert-butyl-4-methylphenol) (MDBP)(-)aluminium complex for the 
      ring-opening polymerisation (ROP) of epsilon-caprolactone in combination with various 
      alcohols as initiators. Three different alcohols were investigated: 
      1-adamantanemethanol (A), 1H,1H,2H,2H-perfluoro-1-octanol (F) and isopropanol 
      (I). Samplings of polycaprolactone (PCL) at various reaction times showed a 
      linear increase in the polymer molecular weight with time, with very narrow 
      polydispersity, confirming the living nature of the catalytic system. Scanning 
      electron microscope (SEM) images of electrospun PCL fibre mats produced from 30 
      wt % dichloromethane/dimethyl sulfoxide solutions showed a high level of surface 
      porosity with a reasonable homogeneity of fibre diameters. The values of the 
      liquid absorption and water contact angle were measured for the electrospun mats, 
      with the F-capped PCL consistently showing absorption values up to three times 
      higher than those of PCL samples capped with the other two alcohols, as well as 
      increased hydrophobicity. The nature of the alcohol can influence the surface 
      hydrophobicity and absorption ability of electrospun fibres, demonstrating the 
      possibility of tailoring material properties through controlled polymerisation.
FAU - Kouparitsas, Ioannis K
AU  - Kouparitsas IK
AUID- ORCID: 0000-0003-4733-4983
AD  - Department of Materials, Loughborough University, Leicestershire LE11 3TU, UK. 
      i.kouparitsas@lboro.ac.uk.
FAU - Mele, Elisa
AU  - Mele E
AUID- ORCID: 0000-0003-3574-7684
AD  - Department of Materials, Loughborough University, Leicestershire LE11 3TU, UK. 
      e.mele2@lboro.ac.uk.
FAU - Ronca, Sara
AU  - Ronca S
AUID- ORCID: 0000-0003-3434-6352
AD  - Department of Materials, Loughborough University, Leicestershire LE11 3TU, UK. 
      s.ronca@lboro.ac.uk.
LA  - eng
PT  - Journal Article
DEP - 20190413
PL  - Switzerland
TA  - Polymers (Basel)
JT  - Polymers
JID - 101545357
PMC - PMC6523682
OTO - NOTNLM
OT  - electrospinning
OT  - functionalised polycaprolactone
OT  - porous fibres
OT  - ring-opening polymerisation
COIS- The authors declare no conflict of interest.
EDAT- 2019/04/25 06:00
MHDA- 2019/04/25 06:01
PMCR- 2019/04/13
CRDT- 2019/04/25 06:00
PHST- 2019/03/29 00:00 [received]
PHST- 2019/04/10 00:00 [revised]
PHST- 2019/04/11 00:00 [accepted]
PHST- 2019/04/25 06:00 [entrez]
PHST- 2019/04/25 06:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2019/04/25 06:01 [medline]
PHST- 2019/04/13 00:00 [pmc-release]
AID - polym11040677 [pii]
AID - polymers-11-00677 [pii]
AID - 10.3390/polym11040677 [doi]
PST - epublish
SO  - Polymers (Basel). 2019 Apr 13;11(4):677. doi: 10.3390/polym11040677.