Synthesis of Phosphate Buffered Saline- and Ascorbic Acid-Responsive Polymeric Nanocapsules with Cross-Linked Poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) and Polystyrene Blocks

Surface-Initiated Controlled Radical Polymerization: State-of-the-Art, Opportunities, and Challenges in Surface and Interface Engineering with Polymer Brushes

The generation of polymer brushes by surface-initiated controlled radical polymerization (SI-CRP) techniques has become a powerful approach to tailor the chemical and physical properties of interfaces and has given rise to great advances in surface and interface engineering. Polymer brushes are defined as thin polymer films in which the individual polymer chains are tethered by one chain end to a solid interface. Significant advances have been made over the past years in the field of polymer brushes. This includes novel developments in SI-CRP, as well as the emergence of novel applications such as catalysis, electronics, nanomaterial synthesis and biosensing. Additionally, polymer brushes prepared via SI-CRP have been utilized to modify the surface of novel substrates such as natural fibers, polymer nanofibers, mesoporous materials, graphene, viruses and protein nanoparticles. The last years have also seen exciting advances in the chemical and physical characterization of polymer brushes, as well as an ever increasing set of computational and simulation tools that allow understanding and predictions of these surface-grafted polymer architectures. The aim of this contribution is to provide a comprehensive review that critically assesses recent advances in the field and highlights the opportunities and challenges for future work.

Hollow amphiphilic crosslinked nanocapsules from sacrificial silica nanoparticle templates and their application as dispersants for oil spill remediation

Hollow nanocapsules were constructed using a sacrificial silica scaffold to produce novel oil remediation agents.

Recent advances in organic–inorganic well-defined hybrid polymers using controlled living radical polymerization techniques

Controlled living radical polymerizations, such as ATRP and RAFT polymerization, could be utilized for the preparation of well-defined organic–inorganic hybrid polymers based on POSS, PDMS, silica nanoparticles, graphene, CNTs and fullerene.

Synthesis of microcapsules using inverse emulsion periphery RAFT polymerization via SPG membrane emulsification

Synthesis of polymeric capsules with good control over the particle size and size distribution is demonstratedviaa novel approach involving SPG membrane emulsification.