Mussel inspired preparation of MoS2 based polymer nanocomposites: The case of polyPEGMA

Abstract

In this work, we report a facile strategy to prepare PEGylated MoS2 nanosheets through the combination of mussel inspired chemistry and Michael addition reaction. The MoS2 nanosheets were obtained from lithium intercalation and exfoliation method. Meanwhile, the amino-contained poly((polyethylene glycol) methyl ether methacrylate) (PPEGMA) were obtained via chain transfer free radical polymerization using cysteamine hydrochloride as the chain transfer agents and PEGMA as the monomer. To introduce PPEGMA on MoS2 nanosheets, polydopamine (PDA) thin films were first coated on the surface of MoS2 nanosheets through self polymerization of dopamine as the ad-layers, which can react with amino-terminated PPEGMA through Michael addition reaction. The structure, morphology and chemical compositions of MoS2 nanosheets and MoS2-PDA-PPEGMA have been characterized by various characterization techniques. The results demonstrated that the amino-terminated PPEGMA can be successfully immobilized on MoS2 nanosheets via PDA thin films as the ad-layers. More importantly, the strategy described in this work could also be utilized for surface immobilization of various polymers on many other materials and surfaces because of the universal adhesion of PDA and the good monomer applicability of chain transfer free radical polymerization. Taken together, we developed a facile and versatile method to fabricate multifunctional MoS2 based polymer nanocomposites with designable properties and applications via combination of mussel inspired and chain transfer free radical polymerization. The resultant composites are expected to be potentially used for drug delivery and photothermal cancer treatment.