Surface modification of a silicate substrate by a “grafting from” methodology utilizing a perester initiator

The perester silane t-butyl peroxy-11-trichlorosilylundecanoate was synthesized by hydrosilylation of t-butyl peroxy-10-undecanoate with trichlorosilane. These radical initiators were covalently bound to the surface of silicate substrates by self-assembled monolayer (SAM) techniques. Several hydrophilic and hydrophobic acrylate monomers were successfully grafted onto the silicate substrate by in situ polymerization from the surface bound perester initiators. The polymer brushes were characterized by the ATR–IR, XPS, AFM and water contact angles. The results of the study indicate this “grafting from” technique can be used for the preparation of polymer layers with high graft density. While these surface-bound initiators function similarly to surface-bound azo initiators, the preparation of the surface-active perester is a simple, two-step synthesis.