title: Composition of ultrathin binary polymer brushes by thermogravimetry-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.
abstract: In the present paper, a reliable and rugged thermogravimetry-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (TGA-GC-MS) method was developed to determine the composition of ultrathin films consisting of binary blends of functional polystyrene (PS) and polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) grafted to a silicon wafer. A general methodology will be given to address the composition determination problem for binary or even multicomponent polymer brush systems using the PS/PMMA-based samples as a paradigmatic example. In this respect, several distinct tailor-made materials were developed to ensure reliable calibration and validation stages. The analytical method was tested on unknown samples to follow the composition evolution in PS/PMMA brushes during the grafting reaction. A preferential grafting of the PMMA was revealed in full agreement with its preferential interaction with the SiO2 polar surface.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze e Innovazione Tecnologica (DISIT), Università del Piemonte Orientale "A. Avogadro", INSTM, UdR Alessandria, Viale T. Michel 11, 15121, Alessandria, Italy.
authors.forename: Diego
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Antonioli
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze e Innovazione Tecnologica (DISIT), Università del Piemonte Orientale "A. Avogadro", INSTM, UdR Alessandria, Viale T. Michel 11, 15121, Alessandria, Italy.
authors.forename: Katia
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sparnacci
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze e Innovazione Tecnologica (DISIT), Università del Piemonte Orientale "A. Avogadro", INSTM, UdR Alessandria, Viale T. Michel 11, 15121, Alessandria, Italy.
authors.forename: Michele
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Laus
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio MDM, IMM-CNR, Via C. Olivetti 2, 20864, Agrate Brianza, MB, Italy.
authors.forename: Federico
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ferrarese Lupi
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze e Innovazione Tecnologica (DISIT), Università del Piemonte Orientale "A. Avogadro", INSTM, UdR Alessandria, Viale T. Michel 11, 15121, Alessandria, Italy.|Laboratorio MDM, IMM-CNR, Via C. Olivetti 2, 20864, Agrate Brianza, MB, Italy.
authors.forename: Tommaso Jacopo
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Giammaria
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio MDM, IMM-CNR, Via C. Olivetti 2, 20864, Agrate Brianza, MB, Italy.
authors.forename: Gabriele
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Seguini
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio MDM, IMM-CNR, Via C. Olivetti 2, 20864, Agrate Brianza, MB, Italy.|Dipartimento di Fisica, Università degli Studi di Milano, Via Celoria 16, Milan, 20133, Italy.
authors.forename: Monica
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ceresoli
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio MDM, IMM-CNR, Via C. Olivetti 2, 20864, Agrate Brianza, MB, Italy.
authors.forename: Michele
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Perego
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze e Innovazione Tecnologica (DISIT), Università del Piemonte Orientale "A. Avogadro", INSTM, UdR Alessandria, Viale T. Michel 11, 15121, Alessandria, Italy. valentina.gianotti@uniupo.it.
authors.forename: Valentina
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Gianotti
keywords: Composition determination; Method validation; Polymer brushes; Thermogravimetry–gas chromatography–mass spectrometry; Ultrathin film analysis