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ABSTRACT
Noble metal nanoparticles loaded smart polymer microgels have gained much attention due to fascinating combination of their properties in a single system. These hybrid systems have been extensively used in biomedicines, photonics, and catalysis. Hybrid microgels are characterized by using various techniques but UV/Vis spectroscopy is an easily available technique for characterization of noble metal nanoparticles loaded microgels. This technique is widely used for determination of size and shape of metal nanoparticles. The tuning of optical properties of noble metal nanoparticles under various stimuli can be studied using UV/Vis spectroscopic method. Time course UV/Vis spectroscopy can also be used to monitor the kinetics of swelling and deswelling of microgels and hybrid microgels. Growth of metal nanoparticles in polymeric network or growth of polymeric network around metal nanoparticle core can be studied by using UV/Vis spectroscopy. This technique can also be used for investigation of various applications of hybrid materials in catalysis, photonics, and sensing. This tutorial review describes the uses of UV/Vis spectroscopy in characterization and catalytic applications of responsive hybrid microgels with respect to recent research progress in this area.
GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT
Abbreviations
| AA | = | Acrylic acid |
| AAm | = | Acrylamide |
| AAMa | = | Acetoacetoxyethyl methacrylate |
| AFM | = | Atomic force microscopy |
| APMa | = | N-(3-aminopropyl) methacrylamide hydrochloride |
| Au NPs | = | Gold nanoparticles |
| Au NRs | = | Gold nanorods |
| Ag NPs | = | Silver nanoparticles |
| CdS | = | Cadmium sulfide |
| CMc | = | Carboxy methylcellulose |
| CR | = | Congo red |
| CTAB | = | Cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide |
| DLS | = | Dynamic light scattering |
| EY | = | Eyosin Y |
| FTIR | = | Fourier transform infrared |
| Ga | = | Gum acacia |
| GMa | = | Glycidyl methacrylate |
| HEa | = | Hydroxy ethylacrylate |
| LCST | = | Lowest critical solution temperature |
| Ma | = | Methacrylic acid |
| Mac | = | Maleic acid |
| MAEm | = | (dimethyl amino) ethyl methacrylate |
| MB | = | Methylene blue |
| MBiS | = | N,N-methylene bis acrylamide |
| MO | = | Methyl orange |
| Nac | = | Sodium acrylate |
| NaBH4 | = | Sodium borohydride |
| Nb | = | Nitrobenzene 4 |
| NIPAM | = | N-isopropylacrylamide |
| Np | = | 4-nitrophenol |
| NRs | = | Nanorods |
| PSTs | = | Polystyrene sulfonate |
| SEM | = | Scanning Electron microscopy |
| SPR | = | Surface plasmon resonance |
| SR | = | Starch |
| TEM | = | Transmission electron microscopy |
| tMSPm | = | (Trimethoxysilyl) propyl methacrylate |
| UV/Vis | = | Ultraviolet/Visible |
| Vac | = | Vinyl acetic acid |
| VC | = | N-vinylcaprolactam |
| VP | = | Vinyl pyrrolidone |
| VPTT | = | Volume phase transition temperature |
| XRD | = | X-ray diffraction |
| 2-NA | = | 2-nitroaniline |
| 2-AA | = | 2-aminoaniline |
| 4-NA | = | 4-nitroaniline |
Acknowledgments
Authors are grateful to Higher Education Commission Pakistan for financial support under National Research Program for Universities (NRPU) [No.20-3995/NRPU/R&D/HEC/14/1212], Pakistan Program for Collaborative Research (PPCR) [22-3/HEC/R&D/PPCR/2018] and University of the Punjab under research grant for the fiscal year 2017-2018 to carry out this study. Ahmad Irfan would like to express his gratitude to Research Center for Advanced Materials Science, King Khalid University, Abha, Saudi Arabia for support.