Fabrication of chemically tethered binary polymer-brush pattern through two-step surface-initiated atomic-transfer radical polymerization

The communication provides a novel and alternative route to generate chemically tethered binary polymer-brush pattern through two-step surface-initiated atomic-transfer radical polymerization (SI-ATRP). Polymer brush-1 was prepared by SI-ATRP, passivated by a reaction with NaN3, and etched with UV irradiation through a transmission electron microscopy grid to create exposed sites for the subsequently attached initiator on which polymer brush-2 was grown.