A major challenge in surface chemistry is the difficulty in which grafted-from polymerizations are optimized. Specifically, the roadblock is that finding the correct reaction conditions often requires trying tens or even hundreds of different reaction conditions, and the effects of each reaction on brush height and composition must be tested on a separate surface, leading to high costs and low-throughput. Here we show how a new printer that combines an LED, a digital micromirror device (DMD), and an air-free reaction cell can be used to study the thiol-(metth)acrylate photopolymerization. The key advance of this platform is that hundreds of different reactions conditions can be tested on each surface, thereby rapidly accelerating the development and optimization of surface chemistry. With this printer we tested over 200 different reaction conditions to understand the role of light intensity, monomer concentration, and photocatalyst on polymer height. In addition, the ability to test so many reaction conditions lead to several serendiptious and surprising observations, including data that suggest that, under certain conditions, the thiol-(meth)acrylate shows the characteristic behaviors of a controlled radical polymerization.

Rapid optimization of surface chemistry in a novel photochemical printer: Surface-initiated thiol-acrylate photopolymerizations

Macromolecular Chemistry: The Second Century

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ACS Spring 2020 National Meeting & Expo

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.