Preparation of polymer brushes with well-controlled stereoregularity and evaluation of their functional properties

Polymer brushes in which one polymer chain end is tethered to a substrate show permanent properties related to the chemical structure of the polymer. However, they cannot accommodate functional molecules in the desired space because of the steric hindrance between neighboring polymer chains. To overcome this problem, the preparation of polymer brushes with ordered nanopores is strongly desired. High-density poly( methyl methacrylate) brushes with well-controlled stereoregularity were prepared using a surface-initiated living anionic polymerization method in the presence of a Lewis acid. A molecular weight range from 6 to 400 K with a narrow polydispersity index was obtained. Grazing incidence wide-angle X-ray diffraction measurements indicated that the polymer brushes formed a helical structure approximately 1 nm in diameter and consisting of encapsulated functional molecules or polymers, leading to the formation of inclusion complexes or stereocomplexes.