Break
AIChE Annual Meeting
2024
2024 AIChE Annual Meeting
Materials Engineering and Sciences Division
Polymer Thin Films, Confinement and Interfaces II
Wednesday, October 30, 2024 - 4:15pm to 4:30pm
Polymers have unique characteristics when combined into copolymers which have characteristics of two or more polymers. Poly(ethylene oxide)-block-Polycaprolactone (PEO-b-PCL) is one such co-polyester that demonstrates both hydrophilic and hydrophobic characteristics, respectively. The amphiphilic nature of PEO-b-PCL makes it an ideal candidate for sustained drug delivery, especially with hydrophobic drugs. PCL is a class of polymers called polyesters, that are known to release carboxylic acid when they degrade in water. Through this research, it has been found that the carboxylic acid, specifically caproic acid, produced by PCL degradation in water impacts the overall pH of its environment with fast degrade and mid-range degrade PEO-b-PCL samples, but does not affect the environment of slow degrade samples. The main objective for past degradation studies was to examine the speed of degradation instead of degradation effects on its environment. This study showed how the PEO interacted with the caproic acid production of PCL. When these degradation environment studies were first conducted the pH changed similar to a weak titration curve for the slow degraded samples. New data suggests that slow degraded samples do not change the pH since it degrades over a longer period of time, but fast and mid-range degraded samples do affect their environment, confirming the previous data for fast degraded samples. As there was an initial decrease in pH for the slow degrade and mid-range degrade samples, the PEO seemed to create micelles that surrounded the caproic acid either increasing the pH or maintaining it, until the micelles eventually degraded. Micelle formation was tracked by using a UV-vis spectrophotometer that showed an increase in absorbances as the experiment progressed. Knowing how the different concentrations of PEO to PCL affect their environment ensures the safety for drug delivery. Different areas of the body maintain a constant pH for maximum efficiency, thus maintaining that pH is important. The marine environment also operates at a pH of 8.1 to 8.2 and changes can have dramatic effects. This research gave insight to the safety of using the copolymer in the body or a marine environment.