Atom‐transfer radical grafting polymerization of 2‐methacryloyloxyethyl phosphorylcholine from silicon wafer surfaces

Abstract 2‐Methacryloyloxyethyl phosphorylcholine (MPC), a biomimetic monomer, was grafted from silicon wafer surfaces at room temperature by combining self‐assembly of initiator and surface‐initiated atom transfer radical polymerization. Two methods were used to control the grafting process. One was to add free initiator to the reaction system; the other was to add excess deactivator. The grafting densities up to 0.3 chains/nm 2 were obtained. The surface thickness increased linearly with MPC conversion. The thickness depended on catalyst and monomer concentrations, as well as activator/deactivator ratio. Poly(MPC) layers of >100 nm thick were obtained by optimizing the polymerization conditions. A second block of either poly(MPC) or poly[2‐(dimethylamino)ethyl methacrylate] was also grown from the grafted poly(MPC), demonstrating the system livingness. X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy was used to examine the surface chemical compositions showed good agreement with the theoretical values. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 42: 2931–2942, 2004