Sub-20 nm microphase-separated structures in hybrid block copolymers consisting of polycaprolactone and maltoheptaose

Abstract

The present review summarizes our recent results regarding the synthesis and morphological characterization of sugar-based hybrid block copolymers (BCPs) consisting of maltoheptaose (MH) and poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL). The AB-, AB2-, AB3-, ABA-, and A2B-type BCPs, in which the A and B blocks are MH and PCL, respectively, were synthesized by combining the living polymerization and click reaction. The in-situ small angle X-ray scattering experiments revealed the formation of ordered microphase-separated structures with a sub-20 nm periodicity.