(393e) Light-Mediated Polymerization for the Engineering of Advanced Surfaces

The covalent attachment of polymers has emerged as a powerful strategy for the preparation of multi-functional surfaces. Patterned, surface-grafted polymer brushes provide spatial control over a variety of physical properties and allow for fabrication of ‘intelligent’ substrates which selectively adapt to their environment. Here, we describe recent advances in our group in photolithography to produce topographically and chemically pattern polymer brushes by using light-mediated controlled radical polymerization. We highlight recent work on expanding our technique towards photoinduced electron/energy transfer (PET) reversible addition–fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization. Resulting areas of application that are highlighted in this presentation include organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs), anti-microbial surfaces, and anti-fogging coatings.