Nanoporous poly(ether sulfone) from polylactide-b-poly(ether sulfone)-b-polylactide precursor

Abstract

We report a route to synthesize polylactide-b-poly(ether sulfone)-b-polylactide (PLA-b-PES-b-PLA) containing PES and PLA, which provide a mechanically robust framework and a sacrificial template for pore formation, respectively. High-molar mass PES terminated with fluorine groups was synthesized by the step-growth nucleophilic aromatic substitution (SNAr) reaction, and the chain ends were transformed into benzylic hydroxyl groups by chain end modification. Growth of the PLA using the hydroxyl groups as initiating sites via chain-growth ring opening transesterification polymerization (ROTEP) produced the target triblock copolymer. Although the step-growth polymerization produced a PES middle block with high dispersity, small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analyses indicated the formation of an ordered lamellar morphology. We further demonstrated that a nanoporous PES with slit-like pores could be obtained by selective removal of the PLA.