There has been a remarkable shift towards specific practical applications (for example in biotechnology or nanotechnology) that the field of polymer brushes has experienced over the past decade. This book is aimed at reflecting the cross-fertilization that is driving this emerging area of science. In view of the rapidly growing activity and interest in the field, the book covers the introductory features underlying this field and, more importantly, presents a unifying and stimulating overview of the theoretical aspects and emerging applications that are changing the capability to understand and design polymer brushes with biological and materials applications that have arisen in the last decade. The book is aimed at both graduate students and researchers new to this subject as well as scientists already engaged in the study and development of polymer brushes. Several chapters can be useful as basic texts or complementary reading source for advanced undergraduate and graduate courses in a variety of areas including polymer chemistry/physics, surface science, biointerfaces and nanotechnology. The book is divided into five sections, covering (A) Theory, (B) Synthetic Aspects, (C) Patterning Strategies (D) Physical and Chemical Characterization and (E) Applications.
