- Discekici, Emre H;
- Pester, Christian W;
- Treat, Nicolas J;
- Lawrence, Jimmy;
- Mattson, Kaila M;
- Narupai, Benjaporn;
- Toumayan, Edward P;
- Luo, Yingdong;
- McGrath, Alaina J;
- Clark, Paul G;
- de Alaniz, Javier Read;
- Hawker, Craig J
The development of an operationally simple, metal-free surface-initiated atom transfer radical polymerization (SI-ATRP) based on visible-light mediation is reported. The facile nature of this process enables the fabrication of well-defined polymer brushes from flat and curved surfaces using a "benchtop" setup that can be easily scaled to four-inch wafers. This circumvents the requirement of stringent air-free environments (i.e., glovebox), and mediation by visible light allows for spatial control on the micron scale, with complex three-dimensional patterns achieved in a single step. This robust approach leads to unprecedented access to brush architectures for nonexperts.