Surface functionalization of nanoparticles with polymer chains has emerged as a versatile platform to enable hybrid particle building blocks that can be assembled into functional nanocomposite materials with controlled microstructure and enhanced mechanical properties. The resulting materials have attracted interest because the high-level structural control of the architecture of polymer-tethered surfaces enables tailoring of the interactions, microstructure and properties of particulate-based materials in ways that are not possible in classical polymer-matrix hybrid materials. This presentation will review recent advances in surface-initiated atom transfer controlled radical polymerization that enable the modification of a wide range of inorganics with polymeric tetheres of precisely controlled architecture and composition. The effect of brush microstructure on particle interactions and assembly behavior will be discussed and the opportunities and challenges for the design of functional materials will be presented. Synthetic strategies towards bimodal graft architectures will be presented as a path to realize brush-based hybrid materials with high inorganic content and improved mechanical and thermal transmission properties. The results are used to postulate design guidelines for the synthesis of brush particles capable of forming hybrid materials with enhanced performance.

Applications of surface-initiated polymerization for tailoring particle surfaces and interactions and the design of functional materials

2019 Spring National Meeting

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