Organic/Inorganic Hybrid Materials Prepared by Atom Transfer Radical Polymerization
Krzysztof Matyjaszewski
Organic/inorganic hybrid materials from inorganic polymers, inorganic colloids and flat surfaces were prepared by atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP). ABC triblock copolymers poly(dimethylsiloxane)-block-polystyrene-block-poly(alkyl acrylate) were synthesized using a combination of living anionic ring-opening polymerization and ATRP. Graft copolymers with poly(dimethylsiloxane) side chains prepared by ATRP and by conventional radical process have dramatically different mechanical properties. Spherical polymer brushes were synthesized by the ATRP of styrene, n-butyl acrylate and methyl methacrylate from initiators covalently attached to the surface of colloidal silica and silsesquioxanes. In a similar way core-shell colloids were prepared by block copolymerization using ATRP. Polymer brushes were formed by grafting from and onto flat silicon surfaces and functionalized carbon black.