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Updated: Jun 5, 2026
Preparation and Friction Force Microscopy Measurements of Immiscible, Opposing Polymer Brushes
Published on: December 24, 2014
Facile surface immobilization of ATRP initiators on colloidal polymers for grafting brushes and application to
Yi-Yu Liu1, Hui Chen, Koji Ishizu
1Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, National Central University, 300 Jhongda Road, Jhongli 32001, Taiwan.
Abstract:
Bromo-initiators for atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) were successfully immobilized on the surfaces of cross-linked poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) spheres by soap-free emulsion polymerization using CBr(4) as the chain transfer agent. Subsequent surface-initiated ATRP (SI-ATRP) afforded a layer of PMMA brushes covalently attached to the sphere surfaces. Colloidal crystal films of these monodisperse spheres were then studied to identify the relationship between variation in particle diameter and the optical properties. The particle diameters were controlled by varying the feed monomer proportions in soap-free emulsion polymerization and the thickness of the grafted brush layer. It was found that the particle diameter could successfully be controlled to obtain crystal films that produce a variety of brilliant colors in the visible region. The results of this study can provide useful information for facile preparation of surface-immobilized ATRP initiators on colloidal polymers and can be employed for grafting polymer brushes.
