Size dependence of crystallization within spherical microdomain structures

We have investigated the size dependence of crystallization within spherical microdomains formed in various poly (epsilon-caprolactone)-block-polybutadiene diblock copolymers (PCL-b-PB). The crystallinity (chi) and melting temperature (T-m) of the PCL block are considerably lower than those of PCL homopolymer, and chi decreases steadily and T-m decreases only slightly with decreasing radius of PCL spheres (R) for a series of PCL-b-PB with a same molecular weight (M-n). When PCL-b-PB is compared with the similar R but different M-n, chi is significantly different, suggesting that the sphere size is not the unique factor to control crystallization within spherical microdomains. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.