Tailoring the density of surface-tethered bottlebrushes.

Surface-tethered bottlebrushes have been prepared by ATRP grafting of the macroinitiator brush backbone onto plasmachemical-deposited poly(vinylbenzyl chloride) initiator nanofilms followed by ATRP growth of the side chains (bristles). The surface density of bottlebrushes can be precisely tailored by varying the plasmachemical deposition parameters employed for producing the poly(vinylbenzyl chloride) initiator nanolayers. Lateral force scanning probe microscopy has shown that poly(glycidyl methacrylate)-graft-poly(sodium styrene sulfonate) bottlebrush-decorated surfaces give rise to an enhancement in lubrication.