The modification of surfaces with polymers is a field that has fascinated chemists and physicists for over half a century due to the unique ability of polymers to control interfacial properties. Indeed, surface modification using polymers has been directly responsible for both the expansion and improvement of existing technologies and the development of new technologies. Of the many different surface modification techniques available, polymer brushes have received considerable attention and they have been used in applications ranging from sensors to smart coatings. To date, polymer brush research and applications have been essentially limited to polymers prepared via living chain growth polymerization techniques involving vinyl-based monomers. However, recently researchers have established a need to develop polymer brushes based on aromatic polymers for application in areas such as tribological coatings, reverse osmosis membranes, and biosensing. This presentation will expand on exciting work from the group and discuss new research into the use of substituent effect chain growth polycondensation for the preparation of functional aromatic polyamide brushes, with a focus on the factors influencing brush growth, structure, and functionality, and a discussion on the applications of these novel polymer brush systems.

Chain growth polycondensation via substituent effects for the synthesis of functional rigid rod polymer brushes

2019 Spring National Meeting

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