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Enhanced Wettability Changes by Synergistic Effect of Micro/Nanoimprinted Substrates and Grafted Thermoresponsive Polymer Brushes
Author(s) -
Nagase Kenichi,
Onuma Takahiro,
Yamato Masayuki,
Takeda Naoya,
Okano Teruo
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
macromolecular rapid communications
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.348
H-Index - 154
eISSN - 1521-3927
pISSN - 1022-1336
DOI - 10.1002/marc.201500393
Subject(s) - materials science , wetting , chemical engineering , atom transfer radical polymerization , nanopillar , polymer , polymerization , polymer chemistry , contact angle , substrate (aquarium) , polymer brush , nanostructure , nanotechnology , composite material , oceanography , geology , engineering
Thermoresponsive polymer brushes are grafted on micro/nanostructured polymer substrates as new intelligent interfaces that synergistically enhance wettability changes in response to external temperature stimuli. Thermoplastic poly(styrene‐ co ‐4‐vinylbenzyl chloride) [P(St‐ co ‐VBC)] is synthesized using radical polymerization and spin‐coated on a glass substrate. Micro/nanopillar and hole patterns are imprinted on the P(St‐ co ‐VBC) layer using thermal nanoimprint lithography. Poly( N ‐isopropylacrylamide) (PIPAAm) brushes are grafted on the micro/nanostructured P(St‐ co ‐VBC) layer through surface‐initiated atom‐transfer radical polymerization using 4‐vinylbenzyl chloride as the initiator. The imprinted micro/nanostructures and grafted PIPAAm brush chain lengths affect the surface wettability. Combinations of nanopillars or nanoholes (diameter 500 nm) and longer PIPAAm brushes enhance hydrophobic/hydrophilic changes in response to temperature changes, compared with the flat substrate. The thermoresponsive hydrophobic/hydrophilic transition is synergistically enhanced by the nanostructured surface changing from Cassie–Baxter to Wenzel states. This PIPAAm‐brush‐modified micro/nanostructured P(St‐ co ‐VBC) is a new intelligent interface that effectively changes wettability in response to external temperature changes.