The article is entitled “Gold Nanoparticle Adsorption in Covalently Bonded Weak Polyelectrolyte Brushes”
Sun et al. investigate how variations in molecular weight of homopolymer poly(2-vinylpyridine) (P2VP) brushes influence the adsorption of citrate-coated gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) under different pH conditions. This study focuses on the advantages of the homopolymer brush architecture, which enables independent control over grafting density via molecular weight, offers simpler fabrication compared to block copolymer (BCP) brushes, and provides greater structural robustness. The authors find that higher molecular weight brushes adsorb more nanoparticles, particularly at low pH when the brushes are swollen. Please follow the link below to read more about how this trend mirrors observations in BCP systems, but with the added benefit of improved brush tunability and stability.
