The surface chemistry of commodity polymers will determine their wettability, adherence to substrates, and fouling resistance. In this talk, I will show two strategies for engineering these properties by localizing bottlebrush polymer additives at the surface of a film. First, we developed responsive bottlebrush copolymer additives for polystyrene films based on <i>tert</i>butylacrylate and styrene moieties. During film casting on silicon substrates, the additives spontaneously enrich both the top and bottom surfaces. Subsequent heating activates deprotection of <i>tert</i>butylacrylate to produce acrylic acid. Consequently, the surface wettability and substrate adherence are both tunable through annealing time (which controls extent of deprotection). Second, we developed bottlebrush-functionalized elastomeric coatings that resist marine fouling. The bottlebrushes incorporate polydimethylsiloxane, polyethylene oxide, and/or poly(trifluoroethyl methacrylate) side chains. Relative to unfunctionalized elastomer, the bottlebrush-functionalized elastomer suppressed fouling by shelled and colonial organisms by up to a factor of 5. Detailed analysis of surface composition and topography could account for differences in coating performance.

Tailoring surface interactions of commodity polymers with bottlebrush polymer additives

Fall 2022 abstracts, posters, and presentations will launch in mid-September.

ACS Fall 2022

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