Hydrophilic Polymer Brush Layers on Stainless Steel Using Multilayered ATRP Initiator Layer

Abstract

Thin polymer coatings (in tens of nanometers to a micron thick) are desired on industrial surfaces such as stainless steel. In this thickness range coatings are difficult to produce using conventional methods. In this context, surface-initiated controlled polymerization method can offer a promising tool to produce thin polymer coatings via bottom-up approach. Furthermore, the industrial surfaces are chemically heterogeneous and exhibit surface features in the form of grain boundaries and grain surfaces. Therefore, the thin coatings must be equally effective on both the grain surfaces and the grain boundary regions. This study illustrates a novel "periodic rejuvenation of surface initiation" process using surface-initiated ATRP technique to amplify the graft density of poly(oligoethylene glycol)methacrylate (POEGMA) brush layers on stainless steel 316L surface. The optimized conditions demonstrate a controlled, macroscopically homogeneous, and stable POEGMA brush layer covering both the grain surface and the grain boundary region. Various relevant parameters-surface cleaning methods, controllability of thickness, graft density, homogeneity and stability-were studied using techniques such as ellipsometer, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy-energy-dispersive X-ray, surface zeta potential, and infrared reflection-adsorption spectroscopy.

A post-functionalization toolbox for diazonium (electro)-grafted surfaces: review of the coupling methods

“…Other authors have chosen to prepare initiator-modified surfaces by a two-step procedure including first the electrochemical reduction of aryl diazonium salts to produce active layers and second the post-functionalization of the modified substrate with the initiator. In most cases, 4-(2-hydroxyethyl) benzene diazonium, synthetized from the corresponding commercial aniline precursor, is used to prepare a reactive platform with hydroxyethyl functionalities inducing addition-elimination reaction on an acyl bromide (bromopropionyl bromide 182 or 2-bromoisobutyryl bromide [218][219][220][221] ). The second postfunctionalization option considered is based on the formation of a carboxyphenyl platform on which the initiator is immobilized via a one-step 222 or a three-step 90 procedure.…”

Polymer Brush Coating and Adhesion Technology at Scale

“…For almost 30 years, polymer brushes have been one of the most popular research areas in organic nano-architecture and thousands of papers have been published covering everything from detailed mechanistic studies on the polymerization techniques to promising applications [ 1 , 2 ]. Polymer brushes have received much attention due to the versatile and broad scope of applications such as stimuli-responsive surfaces [ 3 , 4 ], cell-adhesion [ 5 , 6 ], wetting [ 7 ], anti-fouling [ 8 ], energy storage [ 9 ], and heterogeneous catalysis [ 10 , 11 ].…”

Highly Efficient Rubber-to-Stainless Steel Bonding by Nanometer-Thin Cross-linked Polymer Brushes

“…Over the last decades, the development of components employing surface modifications has become a major research field of both academic and industrial interest. Properties such as cell adhesion, 1 fouling resistance, 2 low friction, 3 and wettability 4 may be designed by chemical adjustment of the first few nanometers of a component surface. Hence, continued development of new and more beneficial ways of surface design is pertinent.…”

“…Anchoring of polymer brushes to metal surfaces is a versatile approach of making a metal compatible with a given coating. 2,12 Several methods have been designed to ensure both durability and high grafting densities of polymer brushes generating a nanometer-thin primer layer. 13−16 Specifically, poly(glycidyl methacrylate) (PGMA) and poly[2-(diethylamino)ethyl methacrylate] (PDEAEMA) polymer brushes may be grown from various surfaces using a controlled radical polymerization.…”