"UCST Wetting Transitions of Polyzwitterionic Brushes Driven by Self-Association”

O. AZZARONI; A.A. BROWN; W.T.S. HUCK

Angewandte Chemie

Año: 2006 p. 1770 - 1774

1433-7851

We have synthesized homogeneous and patterned brushes from [2-(methacryloyloxy)ethyl]dimethyl(3-sulfopropyl)ammonium hydroxide (MEDSAH). The synthetic route to these brushes involves the surface-initiated, atom-transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) of MEDSAH on silicon and gold surfaces (Figure 1), adapted from a system previously reported by our group for growing polymer brushes. Emphasis is placed on elucidating the properties of these brushes, and particularly the association states of the zwitterionic side-groups, that is, non-associated, interchain associated, or intrachain associated (into a supercollapsed state). We interpreted the results and concluded that all the unique properties ascribed to these zwitterionic brushes arise from these association states and further show that they can be exploited to create “smart” surfaces.