title: Facile synthesis of free-standing polymer brush films based on a colorless polydopamine thin layer.
abstract: A free-standing polymer brush film with tailored thicknesses based on a colorless polydopamine (PDA) thin layer is prepared and characterized. The surface-initiated atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) of 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA) is performed on a PDA layer with thickness of ca. 6 nm, which generated an optically transparent and colorless free-standing PHEMA brush film (1.5 cm × 1.5 cm). Because the cross-linked PDA layer is used as the base for the polymer brushes, the reported method does not require cross-linking the polymer brushes. The free-standing film thicknesses of ≈16-75 nm are controlled by simply changing the ATRP reaction time. The results show that the free-standing PHEMA brush film transferred onto a plate exhibits a relatively smooth surface and is stable in any solvent.
authors.affiliation: Division of Applied Chemistry and Biotechnology, Graduate School of Engineering, Chiba University, 1-33 Yayoi-cho, Inage-ku, Chiba, 263-8522, Japan. kohri@faculty.chiba-u.jp
authors.forename: Michinari
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kohri
authors.forename: Yoshihiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Shinoda
authors.forename: Hiroto
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kohma
authors.forename: Yuri
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Nannichi
authors.forename: Mitsuaki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yamauchi
authors.forename: Shiki
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yagai
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kojima
authors.forename: Tatsuo
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Taniguchi
authors.forename: Keiki
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kishikawa
mesh_terms: D007211:Indoles / Q000138:chemical synthesis* / Q000737:chemistry; D008567:Membranes, Artificial; D008689:Methacrylates / Q000138:chemical synthesis* / Q000737:chemistry; D011108:Polymers / Q000138:chemical synthesis* / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D007211:Indoles; D008567:Membranes, Artificial; D008689:Methacrylates; D011108:Polymers; C568283:polydopamine; C005044:hydroxyethyl methacrylate
keywords: atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP); free-standing film; polydopamine; polymer brush; thin film