Swelling and durability performance of surface-grafted polymer brushes and brush gels

Polymer brushes and brush gels were prepared by RAFT polymerization. Prepared surfaces were characterized by XPS, AFM, ellipsometry, and water contact angle measurements. The swelling properties and stability of surfaces were compared. It was determined that the swelling ratio decreased with increasing grafting density and cross-linker ratio for polymer brushes and brush gels, respectively. As a result, it was observed that crosslinked polymer brushes were more stable than polymer brushes, and the stability and swelling properties of polymer brushes could be controlled by cross-linking. (C) 2021 ACG Publication. All right reserved.