Synthesis of Hydrophobic Polymer Brushes on Silica Nanoparticles Via the Combination of Surface-Initiated ATRP, ROP and Click Chemistry

Abstract

Abstract A fascinating nanoobject, hydrophobic polymer brushes with a hard core of silica nanoparticles and a relatively soft shell of polystyrene-block-poly(ϵ -caprolactone) (PS-b-PCL), was easily constructed by surface-initiated atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) of styrene, ring-opening polymerization (ROP) of ϵ-caprolactone and click reaction. The structure and morphology of the as-prepared hybrid nanomaterials were characterized and confirmed by FTIR, 1H-NMR, TGA and TEM. We believe that the breakthrough associated with formation of such a complex nanoobject would open a door for the fabrication of novel functional nanomaterials or nanodevices with designable structure and tailor-made properties. Keywords: Surface-initiated polymerizationROPclick chemistrysurface modification Acknowledgments This work was financially supported by the Ankang University Science Foundation (grant no. 2007AKXY019).