Induction heating for surface triggering styrene polymerization on titanium modified with ATRP initiator

Titanium and its alloys present high interests for technological applications due to their high corrosion resistance, mechanical properties and biocompatibility. In combination with these remarkable characteristics, some Ti applications require specific surface properties that can be imparted with suitable surface functionalizations of the TiO oxide layer. The present work aims to study the surface-initiated ATR polymerization of styrene on titanium substrates, using grafted 11-(2-bromoisobutyrate)-undecyl-1-phosphonic acid as initiator and to compare the impact of two different heating ways on the efficiency of this polymerization: induction vs. conventional heating. The ability of the initiator to bind titanium substrates and act as an initiator for ATRP of styrene is investigated: both heating conditions led to the polymerization of styrene on modified titanium substrates. However, induction heating appeared to be much more efficient than conventional heating, leading to the formation of a thicker, much denser polystyrene layer than conventional heating after only 1h of polymerization.