Tuning the thickness of polymer brushes grafted from nonlinearly growing multilayer assemblies.
A new versatile method for tuning the thickness of surface-tethered polymer brushes is introduced. It is based on the combination of polyelectrolyte multilayer deposition and surface-initiated atom transfer radical polymerization. To control the thickness of the brushes, the nonlinear growth of certain polyelectrolyte multilayer systems is exploited. The method is demonstrated to work with different polyelectrolytes and different monomers. The relevance for applications is demonstrated by cell adhesion experiments on grafted thermoresponsive polymer layers with varying thickness.
Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Polymer Research, Geiselbergstrasse 69, Potsdam-Golm, Germany.
Erik
E
Wischerhoff
Stefan
S
Glatzel
Katja
K
Uhlig
Andreas
A
Lankenau
Jean-François
JF
Lutz
André
A
Laschewsky
D000818:Animals; D002448:Cell Adhesion; D002460:Cell Line; D004573:Electrolytes / Q000138:chemical synthesis* / Q000737:chemistry*; D051379:Mice; D011108:Polymers / Q000138:chemical synthesis* / Q000737:chemistry*; D013499:Surface Properties
D004573:Electrolytes; D011108:Polymers