Controlled Grafting of Well-Defined Polymers on Hydrogen-Terminated Silicon Substrates by Surface-Initiated Atom Transfer Radical Polymerization

Controlled grafting of well-defined polymer brushes on the hydrogen-terminated Si(100) substrates (the Si−H substrate) was carried out via the surface-initiated atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP). Surface initiators were immobilized on the Si−H substrates in three consecutive steps: (i) coupling of an ω-unsaturated alkyl ester to the Si−H surface under UV irradiation, (ii) reduction of the ester groups by LiAlH4, and (iii) …