A novel, thermally responsive N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPAAm) based polymer with a sharp lower critical solution temperature (LCST) for conformal and substrate independent surface modification is presented. Initiated chemical vapor depositon (iCVD) is a solventless, gentle, one-step process used here to deposit thin films of the lightly cross-linked polymer, poly(N-isopropylacrylamide-co-di(ethylene glycol) divinyl ether) (p(NIPAAm-co-DEGDVE)). The polymer's bulk responsive characteristics are investigated using quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring (QCM-D), showing a sharp LCST transition curve with inflection point at 28.5 � 0.3 �C. Static contact angle measurements explore the surface responsive properties on both flat and nanostructured surfaces. The change in contact angle around the LCST increases from 30� on a flat surface to 85� on a conformally coated forest of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs).

Sharp lower critical solution temperature transition for novel N-isopropylacrylamide based polymer

240th National Meeting (2010)

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