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Synthesis, Characterization, And Functionalization Of 2-Vinyl-4,4-Dimethylazlactone Brushes To Create Bio-Inspired Materials, Camille Marie Kite
Synthesis, Characterization, And Functionalization Of 2-Vinyl-4,4-Dimethylazlactone Brushes To Create Bio-Inspired Materials, Camille Marie Kite
Masters Theses
Functional materials built from polymer scaffolds inspire many potential uses, including as biomaterial surfaces or sensors. In situ functionalization using well-defined polymer “brushes” made by tethering polymer chains to a surface by one of their ends is explored. Specifically, poly(2-vinyl-4,4-dimethylazlactone) (PVDMA) chains, which contain a reactive azlactone ring at each repeat unit, are tethered to a surface to create brushes and these films are functionalized using a variety of small molecules, primarily amines or peptides. Relationships between polymer brush thickness, size of the functionalizing molecule, solution concentration, reaction time, and extent of functionalization were determined through measurements of brush thickness …