Bottle-Brush Brushes: Cylindrical Molecular Brushes of Poly(2-oxazoline) on Glassy Carbon

Ning Zhang, Marin Steenackers, Robert Luxenhofer, Rainer Jordan

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

77 Scopus citations

Abstract

We report on the synthesis of brushes of bottle-brushes of poly(2-oxazoline)s on polished glassy carbon (GC) substrates. First, homogeneous and stable poly(2-isopropenyl-2-oxazoline) (PIPOx) brush layers with thicknesses up to 160 nm were created directly onto GC by the self-initiated photografting and photopolymerization (SIPGP) of 2-isopropenyl-2-oxazoline (IPOx). Kinetic studies reveal a linear increase in thickness with the polymerization time. In a second reaction, the pendant 2-oxazoline ring of the PIPOx brushes were used for the living cationic ring-opening polymerization (LCROP) with different substituted 2-oxazoline monomers to form the side chains. Also for the second surface-initiatedLCROPfrom the surface-bound macroinitiator brushes, the thickness increase with the polymerization time was found to be linear and reproducible. Characterization of the resulting bottle-brush brushes by FTIR spectroscopy,contact angle, and AFM indicates a high side chain grafting density and quantitative reactions. Finally, we have demonstrated the possibility of functionalizing the bottle-brush brushes side chain end groups with sterically demanding molecules. © 2009 American Chemical Society.
Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)5345-5351
Number of pages7
JournalMacromolecules
Volume42
Issue number14
DOIs
StatePublished - Jul 28 2009
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

KAUST Repository Item: Exported on 2020-10-01
Acknowledgements: This work was supported by the Elitenetzwerk Bayern in the frame of the international graduate school CompInt (“Materials Science of Complex Interfaces”) as part of the IGSSE (‘International Graduate School for Science and Engineering’) at the Technische Universität München. M.S. is additionally thankful for a postdoc stipend from Wacker-Institute of Silicon Chemistry of the TU München and R.L. for a postdoc stipend from the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Saudi Arabia (KAUST).
This publication acknowledges KAUST support, but has no KAUST affiliated authors.

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