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Radical Cation Initiated Surface Polymerization on Photothermal Rubber for Smart Antifouling Coatings
Author(s) -
Li Ruiting,
Lian Xiaodong,
Wang Zhen,
Wang Yapei
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
chemistry – a european journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.687
H-Index - 242
eISSN - 1521-3765
pISSN - 0947-6539
DOI - 10.1002/chem.201804526
Subject(s) - biofouling , materials science , natural rubber , photothermal therapy , polymerization , polymer , radical polymerization , grafting , chemical engineering , polymer chemistry , nanotechnology , chemistry , composite material , membrane , biochemistry , engineering
Abstract Biofouling on surfaces of various materials has attracted considerable attention in biomedical and marine industries. Surface grafting based on covalent surface‐initiated polymerization offers a popular route to address this problem by providing diverse robust polymer coatings capable of preventing the biofouling in complex environments. However, the existing methods for synthesizing polymer coatings are complicated and rigorous, or require special catalysts, greatly limiting their practical applications. In this work, a radical‐cation‐based surface‐initiated polymerization protocol to graft the surface of darkened trans ‐polyisoprene (TPI) rubber with a thermo‐responsive smart polymer, poly( N ‐isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM), through a simple iodine doping process is reported. A series of characterizations were performed to provide adequate evidence to confirm the successful grafting. Combining the thermal sensitivity of PNIPAM with the photothermal conversion ability of the darkened rubber, efficient bacteria‐killing and antifouling capabilities were successfully achieved as a result of temperature‐controlled iodine release and switchable amphiphilicity of PNIPAM.