The generation of polymer brushes by surface-initiated controlled radical polymerization (SI-CRP) techniques has become a powerful approach to tailor the chemical and physical properties of interfaces and has given rise to great advances in surface and interface engineering. Polymer brushes are defined as thin polymer films in which the individual polymer chains are tethered by one chain end to a solid interface. Significant advances have been made over the past years in the field of polymer brushes. This includes novel developments in SI-CRP, as well as the emergence of novel applications such as catalysis, electronics, nanomaterial synthesis and biosensing. Additionally, polymer brushes prepared via SI-CRP have been utilized to modify the surface of novel substrates such as natural fibers, polymer nanofibers, mesoporous materials, graphene, viruses and protein nanoparticles. The last years have also seen exciting advances in the chemical and physical characterization of polymer brushes, as well as an ever increasing set of computational and simulation tools that allow understanding and predictions of these surface-grafted polymer architectures. The aim of this contribution is to provide a comprehensive review that critically assesses recent advances in the field and highlights the opportunities and challenges for future work.

中文翻译：

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表面引发的受控自由基聚合：使用聚合物刷进行表面和界面工程的最新技术，机遇和挑战

通过表面引发的受控自由基聚合（SI-CRP）技术生成聚合物刷已成为定制界面的化学和物理特性的有力方法，并在表面和界面工程方面取得了长足的进步。聚合物刷定义为聚合物薄膜，其中各个聚合物链通过一个链端拴在固体界面上。在过去的几年中，聚合物刷领域取得了重大进展。这包括SI-CRP的新发展，以及诸如催化，电子，纳米材料合成和生物传感等新应用的出现。此外，通过SI-CRP制备的聚合物刷已用于修饰新型基材的表面，例如天然纤维，聚合物纳米纤维，中孔材料，石墨烯，病毒和蛋白质纳米颗粒。过去几年中，聚合物刷的化学和物理特性也取得了令人振奋的进步，并且越来越多的计算和仿真工具集使人们能够理解和预测这些表面接枝的聚合物体系结构。这项贡献的目的是提供全面的评估，以严格评估该领域的最新进展，并强调未来工作的机遇和挑战。