Formation and Properties of Anchored Polymers with a Gradual Variation of Grafting Densities on Flat Substrates

Abstract

We show that assemblies comprising anchored polymers with a gradual variation of grafting densities on solid substrates can be generated by first covering the substrate with a molecular gradient of the polymerization initiator, followed by polymerization from the substrate-bound initiator centers (“grafting from”). We apply this technique to prepare grafting density gradients of poly(acrylamide) (PAAm) on flat silica substrates. We demonstrate that using the grafting density gradient geometry, the mushroom-to-brush transition can be accessed on a single sample. This transition is detected by monitoring the dependence of the thickness of the grafted PAAm in a good solvent using variable angle spectroscopic ellipsometry. Wettability experiments performed on the gradient PAAm substrate provide complementary information about the nature of the mushroom-to-brush transition.