The hydrophilic homopolymer brushes of poly(acrylamide) (PAAM) and poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) (PHENIA) were prepared by means of atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) on the modified silicon gel by the initiator that was prepared by vapor method. The block copolymer brushes consisting of PAAM and PHENM blocks were obtained by using the homopolymer brush as the macroinitiator for the second ATRP polymerization of another monomer. The structures of the homopolymer brushes and the block copolymer brushes were characterized by IR and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). XPS revealed that the first polymer layer of the surface was partly covered with the second polymer layer after being block-copolymerized with the second monomer. SEM showed that the silicon gel particles with polymer brushes were made up of the silicon gel particles as the core and the polymer as the shell. Under appropriate conditions, the copper or cadmium ion was introduced into the sihcon gel with the homopolymer brushes and the block copolymer brushes to form the inorganic-organic hybrid material. TGA analysis showed that the inorganic-organic hybrid material is more stable. The results of ESR indicated that the inorganic-organic hybrid material with the polymer metal complex basing on the silicon gel particle possessed well paramagnetism. (c) 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.