Switchable thin-film surface prepared via a simple grafting-to method using a polystyrene-b-poly(2-vinylpyridine) copolymer

A polystyrene-b-poly(2-vinylpyridine) block copolymer containing a methylhydridosilane linking group was chemically grafted to an 8-trichlorosilyloctene monolayer via a simple one-step hydrosilylation reaction. The resulting Y-shaped thin film exhibited a low grafting density, which was characteristic of the grafting-to technique. To further reduce the miscibility of the two arms, methyl iodide was reacted with the poly(2-vinylpyridine) block to produce quaternary ammonium groups. The surfaces before and after quaternization were both solvent-switchable when subjected to block-selective solvents. Tensiometry, ellipsometry, attenuated total reflection/Fourier transform infrared, and atomic force microscopy were used to characterize the properties and morphology of both unquaternized and quaternized samples. (c) 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.