Prev. Article Next Article Table of Contents

Article

Tailoring of Poly(ether ether ketone) Surface Properties via Surface-Initiated Atom Transfer Radical Polymerization

Figures

Your current credentials do not allow retrieval of the full text.

Purchase the full-text

PDF/HTML,
figures/images,
references and tables,
(where available)

Basit Yameen*†, Marta Álvarez†, Omar Azzaroni†§, Ulrich Jonas*†‡ and Wolfgang Knoll†

^† Max-Planck-Institut für Polymerforschung, Ackermannweg 10, D-55128 Mainz, Germany

^‡ FORTH/IESL, Voutes Str., P.O.Box 1527, 71110 Heraklion, Crete, Greece

^§ Instituto de Investigaciones Fisicoquímicas Teóricas y Aplicadas (INIFTA), Universidad Nacional de La Plata, CONICET, CC 16 Suc. 4 (1900) La Plata, Argentina

Langmuir, 2009, 25 (11), pp 6214–6220

DOI: 10.1021/la900010z

Publication Date (Web): March 10, 2009

*Corresponding authors. E-mail: yameen@mpip-mainz.mpg.de; jonas@mpip-mainz.mpg.de or ujonas@iesl.forth.gr.

Section:

Chemistry of Synthetic High Polymers

Abstract

The interfacial properties of commercial poly(ether ether ketone) (PEEK) have been tailored by tethering polymeric brushes to the PEEK surface via surface-initiated atom transfer radical polymerization (SI-ATRP). The immobilization of an ATRP initiator on the PEEK surface was achieved by an unprecedented simple two-step wet chemical method. The keto groups at the PEEK surface were first wet chemically reduced to hydroxyl groups, and then 2-bromoisobutyryl groups were covalently anchored at the PEEK surface as ATRP initiator. SI-ATRP was performed at these functionalized PEEK surfaces with the three different monomers: potassium 3-(methacryloyloxy)propane-1-sulfonate (MPS), monomethoxy-terminated oligo(ethylene glycol)methacrylate (MeOEGMA), and N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPAAm). Atomic force microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, attenuated total reflection infrared spectroscopy, water contact angle measurements, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy ascertained the successful grafting of these polymer brushes at the PEEK surface. These brush-modified PEEK surfaces exhibited fully the physiochemical properties of the respective polymer brush: the surface with polyMPS brush showed selective staining by electrostatic interaction, while the polyMeOEGMA-modified surface was biorepellent. The surface modified with polyNIPAAm brush demonstrated a thermally responsive polarity change.

View: Full Text HTML | Hi-Res PDF | PDF w/ Links