Poly film graft from polymer brushes

An alternative photo-SIP approach was described by Kang and coworkers, where they used an argon plasma to oxidize alkylthiolate SAMs on planar gold [55]. The plasma treatment oxidized carboxy-terminated SAMs to peroxide moieties. UV irradiation in the presence of acryhc acid and allylpentafluorobenzene yielded ultra-thin graft layers of 6-7nm. The poly(acrylic acid) layers were found to adsorb Fe " ions from solution. This particular photoinitiation method yields low-density polymer brush films. 

Farhan et al. [25] reported surface-initiated polymerizations from polymeric surfaces of commercially important polyester films, poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET), and poly(ethylene naphthalate) (PEN). Patterned self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) of the trichlorosilane initiator were first immobilized on the surface through a soft lithographic method of microcontact printing (ICP). Grafting from the surface was initiated via controlled ATRP, under aqueous conditions, to create patterned brushes of the ther-moresponsive polymer poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAm), as shown in Figure 1.8. 

Attachment of polymer brushes to the surface with nanoscale and microscale features may provide additional level of control over the assembly of polymer brushes. For example, a two-layer structure was built from a rough polymer layer with needle-like structures of micrometer size and a layer formed by the nanoscopic self-assembled domains of a demixed polymer brush (carboxyl-terminated poly(styrene-co-2,3,4,5,6-pentafluorostyrene) and carboxyl-terminated poly(2-vinylpyridine)) irreversibly grafted onto the needles (Minko et al., 2003). The wettability of the surface can be altered by exposing the surface to solvents that are selective to one of the components of the brush. The microscale features amplify the response, allowing the surface enrichment by the favored component while the rest of the brush is collapsed and hidden within the microstructures of the film. 

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