Surface Modification of Metals through Atom Transfer Radical Polymerization Grafting of Acrylics

Abstract

In this thesis, acrylic polymers (methyl methacrylate, MMA; N,N' -dimethylamino ethyl methacrylate, DMAEMA; oligo-ethylene glycol methacrylate, OEGMA; trifluoroethyl methacrylate, TFEMA) were grafted from various metal surfaces such as cold rolled steel (CRS), stainless steel (SS), aluminum (Al) and nickel (Ni) through surface-initiated atom transfer radical polymerization (s-ATRP). The purpose is to improve corrosion resistance and to introduce multi-functionality to metal surface. The metal substrates were precisely polished and were facile for characterization by ellipsometry. 3-((alpha)-Bromo-2-methyl) propylamide propyltriethoxysilane was synthesized and immobilized on the metal surfaces under a simple and workplace-friendly condition. Grafting density was estimated to be 0.58 chains/nm^2 for CRS-gPMMA, 0.55 chains/nm^2 for Ni-g-PMMA and 0.18 chains/nm^2 for SS-g-DMAEMA and 0.66 chains/nm^2 for SS-g-PDMAEMA. Two strategies, i.e., "adding free initiator" and "adding deactivator", were adopted for the control over polymer molecular weight and grafting density in the CRS-g-PMMA system. The polymer thicknesses up to 80 nm were obtained within 80 min using the "adding deactivator" strategy. Copper and iron catalyst systems were compared on different metal substrates. A severe deactivation of copper catalyst was observed on the metal substrates. Controlled polymerization with relatively low polydispersity was obtained using the iron catalyst. The metal surfaces at various stages of modification were characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, ellipsometry, goniometry, and atomic force microscopy (AFM). Electrochemical experiments were also carried out to measure the polarization resistance and corrosion potential of CRS-g-PMMA substrates. This thesis work demonstrated that the surface-initiated ATRP is a versatile means for the surface modification of metals with well-defined and functionalized polymer brushes.