Preparation of PSt/SiO₂ nanoparticles with raspberry-like structure via nonionic surfactant miniemulsion polymerization

Abstract

Preparation of inorganic/organic nanoparticles (NPs) with special morphology, controllable size, and good stability is important for widening their applications. In this study, a series of polystyrene (PSt)/SiO₂ NPs with a raspberry-like structure was synthesized via a miniemulsion polymerization approach, using octaphenyl polyoxyethylene (CA-897) as a nonionic surfactant. To increase silica loading capacity, methacryloyloxyethyl trimethyl ammonium chloride (MTC) was introduced as an auxiliary monomer. The results indicate that the combinative employment of CA-897/SiO₂ NPs/MTC could contribute to the formation of raspberry-like PSt/SiO₂ nanohybrids with controlled size of 130–370 nm as well as adjustable silica inorganic content of 17–31 wt%, respectively. The raspberry structure played a significant role on the stabilization of PSt/SiO₂ NPs in both electrolytic and strong basic/acidic environments.

Keywords:

• miniemulsion polymerization
• polystyrene
• nanosilica
• raspberry-like nanoparticles
• colloidal stability

Acknowledgments

We gratefully thank the financial support from National Nature Science Foundation of China (51203047) and Key Laboratory for the Synthesis and Application of Organic Functional Molecules, Ministry of Education (2013-KL-006). This work was also supported by the financial funding from the National Basic Research Program of China (973 Program, 2012CB933600) and Shanghai Municipal Science and Technology Foundation (15ZR1408500).

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.