Synthesis of stimuli-responsive and adsorbable block copolymers with phosphonate anchor groups

By introducing phosphonate anchor groups into stimuli-sensitive polymers and adsorbing them onto pigments, a new and versatile kind of sensor could be built. At first, nitroxide-mediated radical polymerization was utilized to produce block copolymers of diethyl-4-vinyl-benzyl phosphonate and N-isopropylacrylamide/N,N-dimethylacrylamide or 2-vinyl pyridine, which could be hydrolyzed and adsorbed onto aluminum and titanium oxide, afterwards. The adsorption characteristics and the phase transitions were examined using surface plasmon resonance spectrometry, dynamic light scattering, differential scanning calorimetry, and UV/VIS spectroscopy. Herein, tunable temperature responsive block-co-polymers showed Langmuir-type adsorption behavior, whereas, pH-responsive particles varied in adsorption to Brunauer-Emmett-Teller isotherms. Finally, particle sizes and layer stabilities were characterized as well.