Surface-grafted polyacrylamide via atom transfer radical polymerization from the surfaces of polymer films

摘要

Grafting polymer chains to an interface is an effective way to tailor the properties of surfaces. In many applications, the usefulness of a polymer product is governed by its surface properties. Examples of such surface properties include adhesion, wettability, coefficient of friction, lubricity, wearability, chemical reactivity, biological compatibility and activity, permeability, charge storage capacity and electrical response. As early as the 1950s, surface-confined polymerization was used a method to modify surface properties by grafted polymers. Recent advances in surface analytical techniques, combined with the application of living polymerization to the field of surface grafting, have led to increased knowledge and control of the structure and morphology of polymer-modified surfaces. In the area of "living" or controlled radical polymerization, well-defined brush, high-density graft, block, hyperbranched, thin cross-linked, and micropatterned structures have been created by surface-confined polymerization. As a "living" radical polymerization method, atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) has been used often to generate surface-grafted polymers. Most reported works discuss surface-confined ATRP on inorganic substrates, silicon and silicon-supported gold surface; few report grafted polymers from polymer substrates using ATRP. Our interest is on the surface-confined polymerization, especially using ATRP, from polymer films.