Less is more: A review of μL-scale of SI-ATRP in polymer brushes synthesis

Current trends of sustainable chemistry drive the (re)search to implement economical yet ecological synthetic solutions as surface-initiated atom transfer radical polymerization (SI-ATRP) techniques. Recently, one of the most interesting ways based on the use of ATRP concept for efficient functionalization of the material is the implementation of diffusion-controlled processes in mu L-scale. The minimization of the polymerization system and the reduction of the amount of used reactants allows receiving well-defined densely grafted polymer brushes (up to 0.94 chains per nm(2)). Application of even small solution volumes as 1 mu L/cm(2) can significantly modify the surface properties of the modified material. Various factors acting as reducing agents, such as metal plates, sunlight or electric current, were investigated to demonstrate the great versatility of this approach. The wide possibilities of mu L-scale of SI-ATRP have also been demonstrated by grafting copolymer brushes, creating complex structures and gradients along with fabrics modification starting with cellulose or hydrogels. Therefore, this review highlights the most important achievements in the application of SI-ATRP techniques on a microliter scale, summarizes the spectrum of successfully polymerized monomers and indicates directions for further development of the concept, as well as proposes new solutions in materials science.

Automated summary

The use of SI-ATRP techniques on a microliter scale allows for the creation of well-defined densely grafted polymer brushes. Applying diffusion-controlled processes can significantly modify the surface properties of the modified material, and various reducing agents demonstrate the flexibility of this approach.