Figure 1. . Chemical structure and characteristics of the PEG600PTHF650 used in the study.

The chemical structure of the PEG₆₀₀PTHF₆₅₀ used in this study, and the molecular weight, polydispersity index, hydrophilic lipophilic balance and critical micelle concentration of the polymer sample. The chemical structure of the PEG₆₀₀PTHF₆₅₀ was confirmed by proton nuclear magnetic resonance (¹H NMR) spectroscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy [28]. To confirm the formation of micelles from PEG₆₀₀PTHF₆₅₀ in aqueous solution, CMC was measured via solubilization of a fluorescent probe, pyrene, to study the association behavior of amphiphilic polymers [28].

CMC: Critical micelle concentration; HLB: Hydrophilic lipophilic balance; m: Number of PEG fragments in amphiphilic invertible polymers macromolecules; Mw: Weight average molecular weight; n: Number of PTHF fragments in amphiphilic invertible polymers macromolecules; PDI: Polydispersity index.