Study and application of a linear frequency-thickness relation for surface-initiated atom transfer radical polymerization in a quartz crystal microbalance

A linear frequency-thickness (F-T) relation was established for surface-initiated atom transfer radical polymerization (SI-ATRP) in a quartz crystal microbalance (QCM). This quantitative F-T relation is monomer dependent but independent of polymerization rate, initiator and polymer density. With this F-T relation and the online monitoring capacity, QCM was successfully applied to study the kinetics of SI-ATRP mechanisms. QCM was also demonstrated to be useful in controlling film thickness at the angstrom level, which is critical in nanofabrication.http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=PARTNER_APP&SrcAuth=LinksAMR&KeyUT=WOS:000245900200020&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=ALL_WOS&UsrCustomerID=8e1609b174ce4e31116a60747a720701Polymer ScienceSCI(E)EI24ARTICLE93090-30964