Combining plasmachemical emulsion-templating with ATRP to create macroporous lipophilic surfaces

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Polymer Chemistry
• Surface Science

Background:

• High surface area materials are crucial for various applications.
• Polymer brushes offer tunable surface properties.
• Initiator layers are essential for controlled surface polymerization.

Purpose of the Study:

• To tether well-defined alkyl chain side group polymer brushes onto macroporous initiator layers.
• To investigate the immobilization of phospholipids onto these polymer brushes.
• To determine the influence of polymer brush structure on lipid binding.

Main Methods:

• Utilizing pulsed plasma chemical emulsion-templating to create macroporous poly(vinylbenzyl chloride) initiator layers.
• Employing atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) to graft polymer brushes.
• Studying phospholipid immobilization via interdigitation.

Main Results:

• Successful tethering of polymer brushes onto high surface area (600-700 m2 g(-1)) macroporous supports.
• Phospholipid immobilization occurs through an interdigitation mechanism.
• Lipid binding efficacy is directly correlated with the alkyl side group chain length of the polymer brushes.

Conclusions:

• Atom transfer radical polymerization is an effective method for creating functional polymer brushes on macroporous supports.
• The interdigitation of phospholipids onto polymer brushes provides a mechanism for bioactive surface formation.
• Tailoring polymer brush side chain length offers control over lipid binding capacity for surface functionalization.