Well-defined block copolymers based on the functional monomer, 4,4-dimethyl-2-vinylazlactone (VDMA), were assembled onto silicon substrates.  The first block is comprised of poly(glycidyl methacrylate) (PGMA) and serves as an anchor block via reaction with surface hydroxyls of silicon while the second block consists of PVDMA, which contains a highly reactive, pendant azlactone.   A PGMA macro-chain transfer agent (CTA) was chain extended with VDMA utilizing reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization in order to examine the effects of the PVDMA block lengh on film thickness and structure. The block copolymers were spin coated at four polymer concentrations and annealed at 80 �C, 90 �C, or 110 �C in order to optimize deposition conditions to achieve a molecularly uniform monolayer.  The thickness and structure of the polymer thin films were investigated by ellipsometry, infrared spectroscopy, and neutron reflectivity.  The results indicate that PVDMA block length, polymer concentration, and annealing temperature all affect the film thickness and that the reactive PVDMA layer is preferentially located at the air/polymer interface resulting in covalently bound polymeric scaffolds and providing a direct route to functionalizable surfaces.

Reactive polymer films based on poly (2-vinyl-4,4-dimethylazlactone) (PVDMA) synthesized via RAFT polymerization

243rd National Meeting (2012)

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