Towards full control over the synthesis of polyelectrolyte brushes

• Main Author: Cheng, N.
• Published: University of Cambridge 2010
• Subjects: 668.9
• Online Access: http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.597578

Polyelectrolyte brushes are polymer brushes with charged units on polymer chains. Due to the responsive properties of polyelectrolyte brushes, they have large applications in many fields. This thesis describes the synthetic approaches of growing polyelectrolyte brushes in a controlled way. The majority of this thesis focuses on the study of applying controlled living radical polymerisation methods on surface-initiated polymerisation, aiming to achieve controlled growth of polyelectrolyte brush, <i>e.g. </i>controlled brush thickness, grafting density, and internal structure of the brush. Atom transfer radical polymerisation (ATRP), activators (re)generated electron transfer (A(R)GET) ATRP and single electron-transfer living radical polymerisation (SET-LRP) have been studied systematically on the synthesis of polyelectrolyte brushes from surface. These polyelectrolyte brushes are studied using ellipsometry, atomic force microscopy (AFM) and contact angle goniometry. During the study, a unique property of the polyzwitterionic brush is found and explored. Furthermore, considering the future applications of these polyelectrolyte brushes, the brush stability is also studied.