Spatial Control over Brush Growth through Sunlight-Induced Atom Transfer Radical Polymerization Using Dye-Sensitized TiO2 as a Photocatalyst

Simulated-sunlight induced atom transfer radical polymerization is used for spatial control over polymer brush growth by in situ photo-generation of the Cu-I/L activator complex from its higher oxidation state Cu-II/L deactivator complex using dye sensitized titanium dioxide nano-particles. The polymerization is well controlled under sunlight irradiation. Another attractive feature of this method is the possibility of creating various patterned surfaces of brushes using photomasks. When a nanoporous alumina oxide membrane is used as the template for confinement diffusion of photogenerated Cu-I/L catalyst, patterns with sub-50 nm resolution are obtained.