Grafting from poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene): A simple route to versatile electrically addressable surfaces

We demonstrate a simple route to versatile electrically addressable conductive polymer graft copolymer systems. The monomer of poly(3,4- ethylenedioxythiophene), one of the commercially most important conductive polymers, was modified by the addition of an ATRP-initiating site to grow brushes from. The modified monomer is easily accessible by a one-step synthesis from the commercially available 2,3-dihydrothieno[3,4-b][1,4]dioxin-2-yl) methanol. The modified monomer is subsequently electropolymerized onto large area gold-coated electrodes and utilized as a backbone for grafting pH-responsive poly(acrylic acid) brushes from.