Controllable synthesis of raspberry-like PS–SiO2 nanocomposite particles via Pickering emulsion polymerization

• DOI: 10.1039/c7ra13086d
• Publication Date: 2018-01-22T11:34:35Z
• Authors: Xiaotian Zhang; Yangyi Sun; Yijing Mao; Kunlin Chen; Zhihai Cao; Dongming Qi
• Keywords: Pickering emulsion; Blowing a raspberry; Emulsion polymerization

This paper presents a simple and controllable method for the synthesis of monodisperse nanometer-sized organic-inorganic raspberry-like polystyrene (PS)-SiO2 nanocomposite particles (NCPs) via Pickering emulsion polymerization, by simply using silane coupling agent, 3-(trimethoxysilyl)propyl methacrylate (MPS), as an auxiliary monomer controlling its hydrolysis/condensation processes amount. In this method, when MPS was stirred in acidic water with styrene (St) period time, then basic silica solution added, PS-SiO2 NCPs were directly obtained after polymerization. The whole process needs neither surface treatment nor additional surfactants or stabilizers. We propose that silica-stabilized is formed through Si-OH reaction between products distributed on St droplets particles.