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Synthesis and Characterisation of PLA-CO-PEG Copolymers

PLA-co-PEG copolymers synthesized through ring opening polymerization between a lactide monomer and PEG were solution-cast into films. The effect of the molecular weight of PEG and also the percentage of added PEG on the properties of the copolymers were studied. The molecular weight of PEG was 4000, 8000, and 20000 while the percentage of added PEG was varied from 10 to 50 mol%. The NMR spectrums confirmed that the ratio of PLA:PEG in the copolymers are close to the monomer feed of the respective monomers. DSC and TGA results showed that, compared to PLA, the PLA-co-PEG copolymers have slightly lower melting temperatures but similar thermal degradation temperatures. Both molecular weights and the percentage added of PEG influenced the properties of the films. As expected, the tensile strength and Youngs modulus of the PLA-co-PEG copolymer films were lower than that of neat PLA. Conversely, theelongation at break of the copolymer film was higher than that of the PLA when the molecular weight of PEG was 20000. This study suggests that high molecular weight PEG could be used to improve the flexibility of the polymer films.