In situ monitoring of SI-ATRP throughout multiple reinitiations under flow by means of a quartz crystal microbalance

RSC Advances
Joydeb MandalMatthias Dübner

Abstract

An investigation of the polymerisation of 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA) by means of surface-initiated atom transfer radical polymerisation (SI-ATRP) has been carried out in situ using a quartz crystal microbalance, with multiple reinitiations under continuous flow of the reaction mixture. The SI-ATRP kinetics of HEMA were studied continuously by means of changes in the frequency, varying conditions including temperature and solvent composition, as well as monomer and catalyst concentrations, showing the influence of key reaction parameters on SI-ATRP kinetics. Such experiments enabled the design of a polymerisation protocol that leads to a reasonably fast but well-controlled growth of poly(HEMA) brushes. Furthermore, only a minor change in growth rate was observed when the polymerisation was stopped and reinitiated multiple times (essential for block synthesis), demonstrating the living nature of the SI-ATRP reaction under such conditions. The clean switching of reaction mixtures in the flow-based QCM has been shown to be a powerful tool for real-time in situ studies of surface-initiated polymerisation reactions, and a promising approach for the precise fabrication of block-containing brush structures.

References

Nov 16, 2005·Langmuir : the ACS Journal of Surfaces and Colloids·Chengming LiAndrew L Lewis
Jul 31, 2008·Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics : PCCP·Diethelm Johannsmann
Feb 18, 2009·Macromolecular Rapid Communications·Guangzhao Zhang, Chi Wu
Sep 20, 2016·Langmuir : the ACS Journal of Surfaces and Colloids·Ella S DehghaniEdmondo M Benetti
Apr 11, 2017·Langmuir : the ACS Journal of Surfaces and Colloids·Shivaprakash N RamakrishnaEdmondo M Benetti

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Methods Mentioned

BETA
atomic force microscopy
AFM

Software Mentioned

WVASE32
OPUS spectroscopy
Soft

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