Graft copolymer synthesis grafting from - surface initiated

In this review, synthesis of block copolymer brushes will be Hmited to the grafting-from method. Hussemann and coworkers [35] were one of the first groups to report copolymer brushes. They prepared the brushes on siUcate substrates using surface-initiated TEMPO-mediated radical polymerization. However, the copolymer brushes were not diblock copolymer brushes in a strict definition. The first block was PS, while the second block was a 1 1 random copolymer of styrene/MMA. Another early report was that of Maty-jaszewski and coworkers [36] who reported the synthesis of poly(styrene-h-ferf-butyl acrylate) brushes by atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP). 

A dense polymer brush is obtained using the grafting from techniques. Surface-initiated polymerization in conjunction with a living polymerization technique is one of the most useful synthetic routes for the precise design and functionalization of the surfaces of various solid materials with well-defined polymers and copolymers. Above all, surface-initiated living radical polymerization (LRP) is particularly promising due to its simplicity and versatility and it has been applied for the synthesis of Au NPs. 

Recently, the investigation of polymer brushes has been focused on the synthesis of new tethered polymer systems primarily through surface-initiated polymerization (SIP). Previously, the term polymer brushes has been limited to the investigation of block copolymers (qv) or end-functional linear polymers that have been physically or chemically adsorbed to surfaces, respectively (3,4). Recent synthetic efforts using different polymerization mechanisms have resulted in the discovery of many novel properties of polymer brushes. This has been aided no less than the use of innovative and unique surface-sensitive analysis methods as applied to flat substrates and particles. The study of polymer brushes has benefited from improved dielectric, optical, spectroscopic, and microscopic characterization methods. Understanding the chemistry of these grafting reactions and how... 

SCHEME 83 Schematic illustration of the synthesis of PVDF- -PAAc copolymer hy RAFT-mediated graft polymerization, the preparation of the PVDF-g-PAAc membrane with hving surfaces, and the preparation of the pH- and temperature-sensitive PVDF-g-PAAc-h-PNIPAM microporous membrane via surface-initiated block copolymerization. PVDF, polyfvinyhdene fluoride) AAc, acrylic acid NIPAM, V-isopropylacrylamide. Reprinted with permission from Reference 92. Copyright 2004 American Chemical Society. 

Qiu et al. [241 have reported the synthesis of macromolecules having 4-tolylureido pendant groups, such as poly(N-acryloyl-N -4-tolylurea-cvi ethyl acrylate) [po-ly(ATU-co-EA)] 18, and poly(N-methacryloyl-A/ -4-tol-ylurea-co-EA) [poly(MTU-co-EA)] 19, from the copolymerization of ATU and MTU with EA, respectively. Graft copolymerization of acrylamide onto the surface of these two copolymer films took place using the Ce(lV) ion as initiator. The graft copolymerization is proposed as Scheme (12). 

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