Brushing up functional materials

Abstract

Surface-grafting polymer brushes (SPB), which are used in a versatile technique to easily realize surface modifications, can be commonly used to change the inherent surface physical/chemical properties of materials. In particular, producing functional polymer brushes with well-defined chemical configurations, densities, architectures, and thicknesses on a material surface has become increasingly important in many fields. Achieving such goals is highly dependent on the progress of novel surface-grafting strategies, which are commonly based on surface-initiated polymerization (SIP) methods. On the other hand, practical applications have been given more attention since the SPB technique enables the engineering of materials with diverse functions. This review reports some new grafting strategies for generating polymer brush layers and then systematically summarizes research advances in the application of polymer brush-modified materials in multiple fields. Correspondingly, some necessary challenges of the SPB technique are unreservedly pointed out, with consideration given to its real applications in the future. The aim of this article is to tell readers how to engineer functional materials through SPB techniques and what can be done with polymer brushes in the future.