Abstract
Grafted-from poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) brush on inorganic surfaces is potentially applicable to various surface functional materials. In this study, the molecular aggregation states of PVA brush thin film in the dried state were analyzed by X-ray diffraction. PV A brush was prepared by surface-initiated polymerization of vinyl acetate (VAc) from alkylbromide-immobilized silicon wafer using 2,2'-azobis(isobutyronitrile), ethyl iodoacetate for 18 hat 343 K, and followed by hydrolysis in acidic solution for 12 hat 323 K. Both the IR and XPS spectra revealed that the hydrolysis of PV Ac brush gave a PV A brush. The crystalline states of PVA brush were characterized by wide-angle X-ray diffraction and grazing incidence X-ray diffraction measurements. No crystalline diffraction of PVA was observed from the PVA brush surface on a silicon wafer, although the spin-cast thin film formed a crystalline structure. These differences were thought arise from the influence of a polymer-substrate interfacial interaction and the anchoring states of polymer brush to restrict the molecular reorganization for crystallization.
