Delivery of hydrophobic substances from an aqueous environment into polyesters using micelles

An environmentally friendly method for introducing a hydrophobic pyrene dye into polylactide and polycaprolactone matrices structurally modified through the crazing mechanism has been developed. This method utilizes aqueous dispersions of poly(ethylene glycol) methyl ether-block-poly(D,L-lactide) micelles as dye carriers. The resulting pyrene-containing polymeric materials exhibit fluorescence under UV radiation and have the required mechanical and surface properties.