En Route to Practicality of the Polymer Grafting Technology: One-Step Interfacial Modification with Amphiphilic Molecular Brushes

Abstract

Surface modification with polymer grafting is a versatile tool for tuning the surface properties of a wide variety of materials. From a practical point of view, such a process should be readily scalable and transferable between different substrates and consist of as least number of steps as possible. To this end, a cross-linkable amphiphilic copolymer system that is able to bind covalently to surfaces and form permanently attached networks via a one-step procedure is reported here. This system consists of brushlike copolymers (molecular brushes) made of glycidyl methacrylate, poly(oligo(ethylene glycol) methyl ether methacrylate), and lauryl methacrylate, which provide the final product with tunable reactivity and balance between hydrophilicity and hydrophobicity. The detailed study of the copolymer synthesis and properties has been carried out to establish the most efficient pathway to design and tailor this amphiphilic molecular brush system for specific applications. As an example of the applications, we showed the ability to control the deposition of graphene oxide (GO) sheets on both hydrophilic and hydrophobic surfaces using GO modified with the molecular brushes. Also, the capability to tune the osteoblast cell adhesion with the copolymer-based coatings was demonstrated.

Adhesion and Stability of Nanocellulose Coatings on Flat Polymer Films and Textiles

“…P(GMA-OEGMA), a random copolymer of glycidyl methacrylate (GMA) and oligo(ethylene glycol) methacrylate (OEGMA), M w = 2000 kg/mol, was synthesized by solution free-radical polymerization [ 65 , 66 ]. The inhibitor MEHQ and BHT removers were added to purify GMA and OEGMA for 45 min each.…”

Adhesion and Stability of Nanocellulose Coatings on Flat Polymer Films and Textiles

“…P(GMA-OEGMA), a random copolymer of glycidyl methacrylate (GMA) and oligo(ethylene glycol) methacrylate (OEGMA), Mw= 2000 kg/mol, was synthesized by solution free-radical polymerization [65,66]. The inhibitor MEHQ and NHT removers were added to purify GMA and OEGMA for 45 min each.…”

Towards sensor applications of a polymer/Ag nanoparticle nanocomposite film

“…The slides were then annealed at 140 C for 10 hours in a vacuum oven for anchoring the lm to the surface and cross-linking. 38,46 To remove any unanchored PGMA molecules from the sample's surface the slides/wafers were rinsed in chloroform at least three times and dried at ambient conditions. Aer that 2% P2VP solution was drop-wise cast on horizontally positioned substrate, so its surface becomes covered with the polymer-solution.…”

“…Therefore, it is obvious that when the optical sensor is designed to detect a particular solvent the PGMA matrix can be modied accordingly to ne-tune its swelling. It can be done straightforwardly either via polymer graing 38 or via copolymerization of GMA with other monomers 46 having higher affinity to targeted VOC.…”