ABSTRACT
Tethering of polymer brushes on solid substrates is an effective approach to tailoring their surface properties, such as wettability, biocompatibility, corrosion resistance and adhesion. Thus, surface modifications by functional materials are important for various applications, ranging from biotechnology to advanced microelectronics. The preparation of polymer brushes on solid substrates can be carried out via the grafting-to and grafting-from methods [1-3]. The grafting-to approach is carried out via either chemical bond formation between the reactive groups of end-functionalized polymer chains and the reactive groups of the substrate, or via
physisorption of polymer blocks [4, 5]. Grafting-to approach is experimentally simple. It is, however, limited by a low graft density (generally less than 30%) because of steric crowding of reactive sites by the adsorbed polymers [6]. Grafting-from method (also termed surface-initiated polymerization) is a versatile method for the preparation of polymer brushes with controlled density, thickness and functionality [7, 8].
