Surface-graft hyperbranched polymer via self-condensing atom transfer radical polymerization from zinc oxide nanoparticles

We present the synthesis of hyperbranched polymer grafted zinc oxide (ZnO) hybrid nanoparticles by selfcondensing vinyl polymerization (SCVP) via surface-initiated atom transfer radical polymerizations (SI-ATRP) from ZnO surfaces. ATRP initiators were covalently linked to the surfaces of ZnO particles, followed by SCVP of an initiator-monomer ('inimer') which has both a polymerizable group and an initiating group in the same molecule. Well-defined polymer chains were grown from the surfaces to yield hybrid nanoparticles comprised of ZnO cores and hyperbranched poly- mer shells having multifunctional chlorobenzyl functional end groups. The percentage of grafting (PG%) achieved 429% in 6 h, calculated from the elemental analysis results. The hybrid nanoparticles were also characterized using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, UV-vis absorption spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and transmission electron microscopy.