We developed a user-friendly method for growing polymer brushes on various substrates in the presence of air by O2-SI-RAFT polymerization and mussel-inspired surface chemistry. In particular, PHEMA brushes grew to 856 nm on the titanium substrate.
The growth of various polymeric films such as neutral, zwitterionic, and anionic ones was investigated over time from the initiator-immobilized silicon substrates. The polymerization reactions were carried out under ambient conditions via activators regenerated by electron transfer atom transfer radical polymerization (ARGET ATRP) without any predeoxygenating process. Each of the examined polymeric films showed linear/exponential growth over reaction times according to the measurement of ellipsometric film thickness. The successful formation of various polymeric films was further proved by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, contact angle goniometry, and measurement of surface free energies. We think that this study can provide a basis for other researches that require to graft polymers with the adjustable film thickness for modulating chemical/physical properties at interfaces.
Surface‐initiated polymerization of various monomers (methacrylic acid, methacrylate, acrylate, acrylamide, and zwitterionic monomer) is conducted to form triblock copolymer brushes using oxygen‐initiated reversible addition−fragmentation chain‐transfer polymerization in the presence of air. An ellipsometry analysis, water contact angle analysis, X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and atomic force microscopy confirm the successful formation of polymer brushes with complex architectures on a silicon substrate.
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