Thermal effect of carbamates based polymer on the TiO₂ growth

We investigated the growth of TiO₂ on poly((tetrahydropyran-2-yl N-(2-methacryloxyethyl) carbamate)-co-(methyl 4-(3-methacryloyloxypropoxy) cinnamate) (THP-polymer) using thermal heating, octyl isocyanate (OIC), and glutaraldehyde. It is found that TiO₂ can be grown on surfaces terminated with NH₂ and O groups from aqueous solution. However, TiO₂ did not deposit on CH₃ terminated surfaces, due to the low surface energy of these surfaces. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and thermogravimetric analysis data showed that the THP functional group can be removed and the surface functional group converted to NH₂ by heating the material over 180°C. OIC can then be immobilized on the surface after heating, changing the surface functional group from NH₂ to CH₃. As TiO₂ can be deposited from solution on NH₂ terminated, but not CH₃ terminated surfaces, THP-polymer can be used to switch the surface properties by thermal activation and subsequent reaction with OIC. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2011