Patterned grafting of polymer brushes onto flexible polymer substrates

Polymer brushes by the "grafting to" method.

This paper focuses on the attachment of densely grafted polymer layers (polymer brushes) to various inorganic and polymeric substrates by the "grafting to" method. A brief overview of synthesis of polymer brushes by the method is first provided, with emphasis on chemical approaches to polymer attachment. The second part of the paper covers the synthesis of polymer layers via a recently develope...

Discriminatory Bio-Adhesion Over Nano-Patterned Polymer Brushes

Patterned Biofunctional Polymer Brushes CNF Project # 640 - 97 Principal Investigator :

Protein patterning was carried out using a simple procedure based on photolithography wherein the protein was not subjected to UV irradiation and high temperatures, or contacted with denaturing solvents, and strongly acidic or basic solutions. Self-assembled monolayers of poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) on silicon surfaces were exposed to oxygen plasma through a patterned photoresist. The etched re...

Grafting of functional methacrylate polymer brushes by photoinduced SET-LRP†

Photoinduced surface-initiated single electron transfer living radical polymerization (SET-LRP) is a versatile technique for the preparation of polymer brushes. The vast diversity of compatible functional groups, together with a high end-group fidelity that enables precise control of the architecture, makes this approach an effective tool for tuning the properties of surfaces. We report the app...

Shear of polymer brushes

We have measured the normal, lateral and hydrodynamic forces that act between polymer-brush-bearing surfaces immersed in a good-solvent medium, both when stationary and when in motion with respect to each other. At low sliding velocities we find a very marked decrease in the frictional force between the surfaces, an effect interpreted in terms of a fluid interfacial layer resulting from the non...