title: Completely aqueous procedure for the growth of polymer brushes on polymeric substrates.
abstract: The growth of polymer brushes on polymer substrates is often challenging because of substrate incompatibility with the organic solvents used for initiator attachment. This letter reports the use of layer-by-layer adsorption of macroinitiators and subsequent aqueous ATRP from these immobilized initiators to prepare polymer brushes on polymeric substrates. Polyethersulfone (PES) films and porous membranes were modified with polyelectrolyte multilayer films, and a previously developed polycationic initiator, poly(2-(trimethylammonium iodide)ethyl methacrylate-co-2-(2-bromoisobutyryloxy)ethyl acrylate), was then electrostatically adsorbed onto these polyelectrolyte films. The immobilized macroinitiator is very efficient in initiating the growth of polymer brushes on PES, as demonstrated by aqueous syntheses of poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) (PHEMA) and poly(2-(dimethylamino)ethyl methacrylate) (PDMAEMA) films. PHEMA (250 nm thick) and PDMAEMA (40 nm thick) brushes were grown in 2 h from surfaces modified with polycationic initiators. Moreover, this procedure is effective for growing brushes in the pores of PES membranes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan 48824, USA.
authors.forename: Parul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Jain
authors.forename: Jinhua
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Dai
authors.forename: Sebastian
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Grajales
authors.forename: Sampa
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Saha
authors.forename: Gregory L
authors.initials: GL
authors.lastname: Baker
authors.forename: Merlin L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Bruening
mesh_terms: D000327:Adsorption; D001672:Biocompatible Materials / Q000138:chemical synthesis*; D002412:Cations; D004573:Electrolytes; D008689:Methacrylates / Q000138:chemical synthesis*; D018625:Microscopy, Atomic Force; D009757:Nylons / Q000138:chemical synthesis*; D011102:Polyhydroxyethyl Methacrylate / Q000138:chemical synthesis*; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry*; D016062:Porosity; D012997:Solvents / Q000737:chemistry; D017550:Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared; D055672:Static Electricity; D013450:Sulfones / Q000737:chemistry*; D013499:Surface Properties; D013997:Time Factors; D014867:Water / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D002412:Cations; D004573:Electrolytes; D008689:Methacrylates; D009757:Nylons; D011108:Polymers; D012997:Solvents; D013450:Sulfones; C407037:poly(2-(dimethylamino)ethyl methacrylate); D014867:Water; D011102:Polyhydroxyethyl Methacrylate; C022840:polyether sulfone