Branched surface-active polylactides

A series of new branched block copolymers was synthesized and investigated, and their physicochemical and surface properties were determined. It was shown that all of the prepared block copolymers demonstrate well-defined surface activity dependent on the ratio of hydrophilic and lipophilic fragments of macromolecule as well as on the copolymer structure. The resulting copolymers were used as surfactants to obtain microemulsions and microcapsules. It was found that the size of emulsion drops stabilized by branched copolymers increased more slowly than that of drops stabilized by linear copolymers. During the preparation of microcapsules through the use of branched copolymers as surfactants, unlike that through the use of linear copolymer surfactants, a high effectiveness of encapsulation and a smaller particle size were observed.