Responsive polymer brushes colloidal particles

Zhang, M. Liu, L. Zhao, H. Yang, Y Fu, G. He, B. Synthesis, characterization and application of well-defined environmentally responsive polymer brushes on the surface of colloid particles. Polymer 2001, 48, 1989-1997. 

Surface prop>erties can be modified by thin layers of grafted polymers on a surface (not only flat substrates, but also colloidal particles, fibers, etc). These layers can be fabricated by grafring-from (as radical polymerization at the interface) and grafring-to (as tethering of the polymer chains from solution) methods. Grafted surfaces using smart temperature-responsive polymers can modulate cell adhesion and detachment properties in dependence on the temprerature. Cells adhere and proliferate on hydrophobic surfaces rather than hydrophilic ones. They tend to adhere to the surface with appropriate hydrophobidty. Polymer brush systems can be used to control adsorption mechanism, for example, protein adsorption or adsorption of nanopartides. 

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