Polymer Brushes: Substrates, Technologies, and Properties

Polymer Brushes: Substrates, Technologies, and Properties covers various aspects of polymer brush technology, including synthesis, properties, performance, and applications. It presents both experimental details and theoretical insights to enable a better understanding of the brush system.

After an overview of polymer brush systems, the book discusses methods for grafting organic brushes from the surface of clay platelets and for the covalent grafting of PNIPAm brushes. It then describes ferrocene polymer brushes, nonfouling brushes on poly(ethylene terephthalate) film surfaces, brushes formed on the inner surface of cylindrical pores, and the "zipper brush" approach. The authors examine the use of scanning electrochemical microscopy for analyzing brushes and compare surface-controlled atom transfer radical polymerization and surface-controlled single-electron transfer living radical polymerization. They also explore the application of polymer brushes in the chromatographic separations of viruses and proteins and the suppression of proteins and cell adhesions. The text concludes with a look at how polymer brushes are synthesized by surface-initiated iniferter-mediated polymerization.

This book provides a one-stop reference on the various substrates and technologies used to synthesize polymer brushes. The hands-on information in the text will help readers choose the proper synthesis methods and materials for their system.

Dr. Vikas Mittal is an assistant professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering at the Petroleum Institute in Abu Dhabi. He has previously worked at BASF Polymer Research in Ludwigshafen, Germany, and the Sun Chemical Group Europe in London. Dr. Mittal’s research interests include organic-inorganic nanocomposites, novel filler surface modifications, thermal stability enhancements, and polymer latexes with functionalized surfaces.