Facile Synthesis of Free‐Standing Polymer Brush Films Based on a Colorless Polydopamine Thin Layer

Abstract

A free-standing polymer brush film with tailored thicknesses based on a colorless polydopamine (PDA) thin layer is prepared and characterized. The surface-initiated atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) of 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA) is performed on a PDA layer with thickness of ca. 6 nm, which generated an optically transparent and colorless free-standing PHEMA brush film (1.5 cm × 1.5 cm). Because the cross-linked PDA layer is used as the base for the polymer brushes, the reported method does not require cross-linking the polymer brushes. The free-standing film thicknesses of ≈16-75 nm are controlled by simply changing the ATRP reaction time. The results show that the free-standing PHEMA brush film transferred onto a plate exhibits a relatively smooth surface and is stable in any solvent.

Hierarchically Structured Coatings by Colorless Polydopamine Thin Layer and Polymer Brush Layer

“…6a), CaCO 3 @PDA/OEGA m particles were well dispersed. showed that their color changes decreased as the m value increased, in agreement with our previous report [17]. The dark brown coloration also decreased with increasing Et 3 N concentration (Fig.…”

“…This phenomenon is probably due to the thin thickness of the PDA/BiBB 2 layer thickness. The thicknesses of PDA/BiBB 2 on glass plate [17] and PSt particles [18], measured by atomic force microscopy (AFM) and SEM, were determined to be ca. 6 nm and 7 nm, respectively, indicating thin thickness of PDA/BiBB 2 layer.…”

“…While PDA is simple to apply to cover onto various kinds of substrates, most of conventional PDA layers show considerable dark brown coloration, restricting their use for some practical applications such as optical materials and cosmetics. To overcome this drawback, we recently demonstrated the preparation of a colorless PDA layer containing ATRP initiator prepared by the in situ reaction of DA with 2-bromoisobutyryl bromide (BiBB); The synthesized colorless PDA layer is designated PDA/BiBB 2 ([BiBB]/ [DA] = 2, the ratio uses the molar concentrations of DA and BiBB) [17]. PDA/BiBB 2 layer was placed onto PSt particles, and then the surface of obtained particles was coated with polymer brush layers via SI-ATRP [18].…”

Surface engineering of polymer membranes via mussel-inspired chemistry

“…On the other hand, the strong adhesion makes it contaminate the manufacturing equipments. The deep color of PDA-coated surfaces may be also a problem in some cases [176,177]. To overcome these shortcomings, researchers are looking for the alternative choices [178].…”

From Self-Assembled Monolayers to Coatings: Advances in the Synthesis and Nanobio Applications of Polymer Brushes

“…The synthesis, processing and characterization of such complex brush structures, for example, mixed brushes [193][194][195][196][197], multiblock copolymer brushes [114,115,198], gradient polymer brushes [199,200], nanopatterned polymer brushes [107,116], polymer carpet/Janus membrane [8,[201][202][203] and polymer nanochannels [114,117] are of great interest from a fundamental as well as technological perspective. Comprehensive understanding of structure-property relationships in well-defined and fully characterized polymer brushes aided by new synthesis as well as predictive modeling can open up newer applications for polymer brushes.…”