Synthesis and characterization of spherical polymer brushes

The synthesis of spherical polymer brushes consisting of a nano-SiO2 core modified by γ-methacryloxypropyl trimethoxy-silane and a shell of linear polyacrylamide by grafting polymerization was described. The spherical polymer brushes were characterized by Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and Thermo-gravimetric analysis (TGA). After cleavage of the ester group that connected the polymers to the surface, the molecular weight of the brushes was determined by Gel Permeation Chromatography (GPC). The results showed that the average diameter of spherical polymer brushes was ca. 140 nm while weight average molecular weight and surface grafting density were 1.407 × 103 g/mol and 1.016 × 10−4 mol/g respectively.