Name: Marion Kristina Brinks
Diploma / M.Sc degree: Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster, Germany
(June 2005)
Title: Modification of Surfaces using the "Persistent Radical Effect"


Homepage: www.uni-muenster.de/Chemie.oc/research/studer/group/brinks.htm

Abstract of Research Project

The preparation of tailor-made surfaces is an intensively investigated field in materials science. In particular, the strategy of using polymer brushes comprises a promising approach for the functionalization of surfaces. Moreover, the relation of surface-structures and their corresponding material properties is a matter or particular interest. Therefore, techniques utilizing living radical polymerizations are increasingly applied for achieving regular and well defined surface properties.

In our group, alkoxyamines are successfully used for the controlled nitroxide mediated polymerization. Employing this expertise, polymer brushes with defined properties on the surface of oxidized silicon wafers should be prepared. The polymerization of the monomers is supposed to be induced by immobilized alkoxyamines, following the "grafting from" approach. Furthermore, new methods for the regiospecific functionalization of large surface areas will be developed. Considering these aspects it should be possible to define surface properties, such as wettability.


Publications

M. Hirtz, M. K. Brinks, S. Miele, A. Studer, H. Fuchs, L. Chi
Structured Polymer Brushes by AFM Lithography
Small 5 (2009), 919-923.

M. K. Brinks, A. Studer
Polymer Brushes by Nitroxide-Mediated Polymerization
Macromol. Rapid Commun. 30 (2009), 1043-1057.

M. K. Brinks, M. Hirtz, L. Chi, H. Fuchs, A. Studer
Structuring of surfaces with polymer brushes through nitroxide mediated polymerization and self-organization
Polymer Preprints (American Chemical Society, Division of Polymer Chemistry) 49(1) (2008), 587-588.

M. K. Brinks, M. Hirtz, L. Chi, H. Fuchs, A. Studer
Site-Selective Surface-Initiated Polymerization by Langmuir–Blodgett Lithography
Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 46 (2007), 5231–5233.

M. K. Brinks, M. Hirtz, L. Chi, H. Fuchs, A. Studer
Ortsselektive Polymerisationen an Oberflächen durch Langmuir- Blodgett-Lithographie
Angew. Chem. 119 (2007), 5324 –5326.


Marion Kristina Brinks
eMail: Marion Kristina Brinks