Formation of polyacrylate brushes on silica surfaces
Résumé
We report the formation of polyacrylate (molten state polymers: Tg <room temperature) monolayers attached onto silica surfaces using covalently bonded initiators for radical-chain polymerisation. In a first reaction step, the initiator is self-assembled on the surface. In a subsequent reaction, the initiator is activated and the polymer formed in situ at the surface of the substrate with high grafting density ('grafting from' procedure). Moreover, the use of a living free radical process permits the molecular weight and polydispersity of the polymer chains to be controlled, and thus the polymer monolayer thickness also. We have also made a preliminary qualitative characterisation by X-ray spectroscopy (XPS) and Fourier transformed infrared (FTIR) measurements. © 2002 Society of Chemical Industry.