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Preparation and Friction Force Microscopy Measurements of Immiscible, Opposing Polymer Brushes
Published on: December 24, 2014
Specific ion effects on thermoresponsive polymer brushes: Comparison to other architectures
Timothy J Murdoch1, Ben A Humphreys1, Edwin C Johnson1
1Priority Research Centre for Advanced Particle Processing and Transport, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW 2308, Australia.
Abstract:
Thermoresponsive polymers have received significant research attention as smart materials with particular interest in biomedical applications. The composition and architecture are known to strongly influence the thermoresponsive properties of the materials. For example, the strong overlap of end-grafted polymer chains in polymer brushes leads to a broader collapse transition relative to linear ungrafted chains as well as temperature dependent adhesion. The temperature response of free polymer has been widely reported to depend on the concentration and identity of ions in solution and is further modified by the composition of the solvent and presence of cosolutes. However, the influence of polymer architecture on these specific ion effects is relatively unknown. Herein, we compare the current understanding of specific ion effects on free polymer chains and gels with recent studies of polymer brushes. Further studies on mixed salt systems are found to be the next step to predicting the behaviour of these materials in biological systems.
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