Abstract

The covalent attachment of polymers has emerged as a powerful strategy for the preparation of multi-functional surfaces and interfaces. These surface-grafted polymer brushes provide im-proved durability, longevity, and functionality, e.g., by enabling coatings that can respond ‘intelli-gently’ to a variety of external stimuli. This presentation describes recent advances in our group in developing user-friendly chemical and engineering techniques to produce functional polymer brush coatings via surface-initiated (SI) photoinduced electron/energy transfer (PET) reversible ad-dition–fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization. Oxygen tolerance, mild reaction condi-tions, and the use of visible light make this approach robust and versatile for applications from anti-microbial surfaces to anti-fogging coatings and organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs). Polymer brushes are also used as a new heterogeneous photocatalysis platform based on photocatalyst-functionalized polymers grafted to micron-scale glass beads. The resulting photocatalytic materi-als can be used for light-mediated organic transformations, controlled photopolymerizations, and wastewater remediation. Recyclability of the heterogeneous catalyst and re-use for multiple reac-tions is possible, while the covalent tether avoids catalyst contamination of the synthetic products.

CV

Prof. Dr. Christian Pester received his Diploma in Polymer and Colloid Chemistry from the University of Bayreuth (Germany and his doctorate from RWTH Aachen (Germany) working for Prof. Dr. Alexander Böker at the DWI – Leibniz Institute for Interactive Materials (Germany). He graduated summa cum laude and was awarded the Borcher’s Medal for his dissertation on “Block Copolymers in Electric Fields.” As an Alexander-von-Humboldt Feodor-Lynen Postdoc, he then worked with Profs. Edward J. Kramer and Craig J. Hawker at the University of California, Santa Barbara (USA). Dr. Pester began his independent academic career at the Pennsylvania State University, where he was named the Thomas K. Hepler Early Career Professor in Chemical Engineering and awarded tenure in 2023. Currently, Dr. Pester is an Associate Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Delaware. In 2024, he was awarded a Humboldt-Fellowship to study Mental Health of graduate students as a visiting researcher at TU Braunschweig (Germany) and the Leibniz Institute of Resilience Research in Mainz (Germany). He is recipient of the NSF CAREER, ACS PMSE Young Investigator, and TOSOH Excellence in Polymer Science awards, and was named an ACS Polymers Au: Rising Star and an RSC Journal of Materials Chemistry A: Emerging Investigator.