Morphology of novel PEAs containing two consecutive amide bonds randomly distributed along the polyester backbone

The morphology of a series of novel segmented PEAs with varying amide content was studied by a combination of DSC, SFM and proton solid state NMR. Semicrystalline polymers organised in a lamellar morphology were obtained for all amide contents. The results of different NMR experiments revealed that a three phase system composed of a rigid phase, an interface and a mobile amorphous phase is the most appropriate model to describe the morphology of these materials. The amount, the chain dynamics and the domain size of each phase were estimated and correlated with the amount of the amide fraction. Such morphological investigations help to understand the macroscopic properties of segmented PEAs for their applications as biomaterials.