LAUSR

Abstract In this work, the structural changes of amphiphilic polymer polyethylene glycol-acrylicpimaric acid-polyethylene glycol (PEG-APA-PEG) were studied through dynamic light scattering (DLS), rayleigh light scattering (RLS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) technologies in a heating and cooling run. Reversible micelle to aggregation structural change was observed as the concentration was above critical micelle concentration (CMC). The structural changes including multi-chain clusters, self-seeding, disaggregate, fusion, scission and corona crystallization were thoroughly revealed as concentration was closed to or lower than CMC. In addition, the crystallization behavior and mechanism of PEG-APA-PEG polymer in solution were revealed by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and Polarized optical microscopy (POM). The acrylicpimaric acid segments formed seeds at 85 °C and the PEG corona crystallized below 25 °C. Gel–sol transition of PEG-APA-PEG occurred at 8 °C during heating were governed via the crystallization of PEG segment at 5 °C. The rosin copolymer possessing good hemocompatibility and biocompatibility might potentially was used for biomedical material.