Spherical Polymer Brushes

Abstract

This chapter is devoted to particles bearing a densely packed layer of polymer chains on their surface. The polymer chains can be either covalently bound with one end to the carrier particle or adsorbed onto the particle via one part of the chain. Hence, these ‘hairy particles’ exhibit well-defined core–shell morphologies. In addition, the term ‘brush’ implies that the packing of the chains must be sufficiently dense, that is, the dimensions of the chains must be much larger than the distance between two neighboring chains. The spherical ‘cores’ may be either inorganic or organic particles. The brush layer can be made up from neutral or charged polymers, and flexible or rigid polymers. Moreover, mixed polymer brushes can be created by the combination of at least two different polymers. This opens up a broad flexibility in the design of these polymer nanostructures. Because of their hybrid character, the core–shell particles may combine specific properties of the core and the polymer brushes. The polymer brush layer may add steric stabilization or functionalities such as stimuli responsiveness, compatibility, or adhesiveness to carrier particles that exhibit special optical, mechanical, or magnetic properties.