posted on 2020-11-11, 07:05authored byWilliam D. Seddon, Latifah Alfhaid, Alan D. F. Dunbar, Mark Geoghegan, Nicholas H. Williams
Polyelectrolyte
adhesives, either poly[2-(dimethylamino)ethyl methacrylate]
or poly(methacrylic acid), functionalized with a surface-active calix[4]resorcinarene
were grafted onto silicon wafers. Adhesion studies on these grafted-to
brushes using polyelectrolyte hydrogels of opposite charge showed
that it is the calix[4]resorcinarene, rather than adsorption of polyelectrolyte
monomers, that adheres the brush to the silicon substrate. The adhesion
measured was similar to that measured using polymers grafted from
the surface, and was stronger than a control layer of poly(vinyl acetate)
under the same test conditions. The limiting factor was determined
to be adhesive failure at the hydrogel-brush interface, rather than
the brush-silicon interface. Therefore, the adhesion has not been
adversely affected by changing from a grafted-from to a grafted-to
brush, demonstrating the possibility of a one-pot approach to creating
switchable adhesives.