Effect of a new hydrophobically modified polyampholyte on the formation of inverse microemulsions and the preparation of gold nanoparticles

A new regular polyampholyte, namely poly-(N,N-dially-N,N-dimethylammonium-alt-N-octyl-maleamic carboxylate), was synthesized by alternating free radical copolymerization. The influence of the added polymer on the range of the inverse micellar region (L(2) phase) of a SDS-based system was investigated. The phase behavior as well as conductivity measurements indicate that the polymer, which forms hydrophobic microdomains, is located more in the water core of the microemulsion droplets rather than at the interface of the surfactant film. The polyampholyte proved to be an efficient reducing and stabilizing agent for the formation of gold colloids. The process of nanoparticle formation was investigated in the absence of any other reducing agent, in water as well as in the microemulsion template phase. In both cases, nanoscalic gold particles can be synthesized, while the adsorption of the polymer on the particle surface prevents their aggregation due to electrosteric stabilization.     

Polyelectrolyte-modified microemulsions as new templates for the formation of nanoparticles

The paper is focused on the formation and redispersion of monodisperse BaSO₄ nanoparticles in polyelectrolyte-modified microemulsions. It is shown that a cationic polyelectrolyte of low molar mass, e.g. poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride) (PDADMAC), can be incorporated into the individual inverse microemulsion droplets (L2 phase) consisting of heptanol, water, and an amphoteric surfactant with a sulfobetaine head group. These PDADMAC-filled microemulsion droplets can be successfully used as a template phase for the nanoparticle formation. The monodisperse BaSO₄ nanoparticles are produced by a simple mixing procedure and can be redispersed after solvent evaporation without a change in particle dimensions. Dynamic and electrophoretical light scattering in combination with sedimentation experiments in the analytical ultracentrifuge of the redispersed powder show polyelectrolyte-stabilized nanoparticles with diameters of about 6 nm. The polyelectrolyte shows a “size control effect”, which can be explained by the polyelectrolyte–surfactant interactions in relation to the polyelectrolyte–nanoparticle interactions during the particle growth, solvent evaporation and redispersion process. However, the approach used here opens a way to produce different types of polyelectrolyte-stabilized nanoparticles (including rare metals, semiconductors, carbonates or oxides) of very small dimensions.     

Recovery of nanoparticles produced in phosphatidylcholine-based template phases

This paper focuses on the characterization and use of polymer-modified phosphatidylcholine (PC)/sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS)-based inverse microemulsions as a template phase for BaSO4 nanoparticle formation. The area of the optically clear inverse microemulsion phase in the isooctane/hexanol/water/PC/SDS system is not significantly changed by adding polyelectrolytes, i.e., poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride) (PDADMAC), or amphoteric copolymers of diallyldimethylammonium chloride and maleamid acid to the SDS-modified inverse microemulsion. Shear experiments show non-Newtonian flow behavior and oscillation experiments show a frequency-dependent viscosity increase (dilatant behavior) of the microemulsions. Small amounts of bulk water were identified by means of differential scanning calorimetry. One can conclude that the macromolecules are incorporated into the individual droplets, and polymer-filled microemulsions are formed. The polymer-filled microemulsions were used as a template phase for the synthesis of BaSO4 nanoparticles. After solvent evaporation the nanoparticles were redispersed in water and isooctane, respectively. The polymers incorporated into the microemulsion are involved in the redispersion process and influence the size and shape of the redispersed BaSO4 particles in a specific way. The crystallization process mainly depends on the type of solvent and the polymer component added. In the presence of the cationic polyelectrolyte PDADMAC the crystallization to larger cubic crystals is inhibited, and layers consisting of polymer-stabilized spherical nanoparticles of BaSO4 (6 nm in size) will be observed.     

反相微乳液中憎水性纳米金的原位还原法合成

利用十八胺(C18NH2)/正丁醇/正庚烷/HAuCl4(aq)W/O型微乳液体系,在常温的碱促进条件下由正丁醇原位还原氯金酸合成了具有高度单分散的憎水性金纳米粒子。由C18NH2稳定的金纳米颗粒运用紫外可见光谱(UV-vis)、透射电镜(TEM)和X射线衍射(XRD)等分别进行了表征和分析,并探讨了微乳液体系各组分对形成金纳米粒子形貌、尺寸和单分散性的影响。结果显示,随十八胺/氯金酸摩尔比的增加,金粒子的尺寸逐渐减小而单分散性逐渐提高。在正丁醇原位慢还原氯金酸的过程中,实验所选W/O型微乳液模板和表面活性剂十八胺分子对憎水性金纳米粒子的形貌和尺寸仍具有良好的控制作用。     

Preparation of metal nanoparticles in water-in-oil (w/o) microemulsions

The use of an inorganic phase in water-in-oil microemulsions has received considerable attention for preparing metal particles. This is a new technique, which allows preparation of ultrafine metal particles within the size range 5 nm相似文献   

One pot synthesis of polymer protected gold nanoparticles and nanoprisms in glycerol

Uniform and stable polymer protected spherical gold nanoparticles were synthesized using glycerol as reducing agent. Further it was observed that the morphology of the particles varied from spherical to triangular prismatic gold nanoparticles when the reaction was changed from normal mode of reflux condition to microwave mode (MW) of heating. Further a brief mechanism relating the formation of prisms with the orientation of polymer and nucleation period has been discussed. Formation of triangular prismatic and spherical gold nanoparticles were characterised using UV–vis spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis.     

Particle nucleation and monomer partitioning in styrene O/W microemulsion polymerization

Particle nucleation in the polymerization of styrene microemulsions was found to take place throughout the polymerization as indicated by measurements of the particle number as a function of conversion. A mechanism based on the nucleation in the microemulsion droplets was proposed to explain the experimental findings although homogeneous nucleation and coagulation during polymerization were not completely ruled out. A thermodynamic model was developed to simulate the partitioning of monomer in the different phases during polymerization. The model predicts that the oil cores of the microemulsion droplets were depleted early in the polymerization (4% conversion). Due to the high monomer/polymer swelling ratio of the polymer particles, most of the monomer resides in the polymer particles during polymerization. The termination of chain growth inside the polymer particles was attributed to the chain transfer reaction to monomer. The low n? (less than 0.5) of the microemulsion system was attributed to the fast exit of monomeric radicals.     

Electrochemical nucleation of gold nanoparticles in a polymer film at a liquid-liquid interface

Simultaneous nucleation of gold nanoparticles and polymerization of tyramine has been carried out at an immiscible electrolyte interface. By transferring the gold ion of tetraoctylammoniumtetracloroaurate (TOAAuCl(4)) from the organic to the aqueous phase, a fast homogeneous electron transfer from the tyramine monomer reduces the gold ion. Electropolymerization then proceeds, and gold nanoparticles form. The newly formed nanoparticles act as nucleation sites for the deposition of the oligomers/polymer (and possibly vice versa). This results in gold nanoparticles stabilized in a polytyramine matrix. The size of the nanoparticles is controlled by the concentration of oligomers/polymer in solution. The polymer nanoparticle composite film was analyzed with TEM, XPS, and AFM.     

新型双链表面活性剂DDOBA的合成与高单分散性憎水纳米金的制备

自行设计合成了新颖的苄胺型双链表面活性剂3,4-双十二烷氧基苄胺(DDOBA). 利用DDOBA/正丁醇/正庚烷/甲酸/HAuCl₄·4H₂O自发形成的水/油(W/O)型微乳液作为微反应器, 通过微波辐射下的甲酸还原法成功制备了DDOBA保护的憎水性金纳米粒子, 并通过紫外-可见(UV-Vis)光谱、透射电镜(TEM)、高分辨透射电镜(HR-TEM)和X射线衍射(XRD)等方法进行了表征和分析. 结果显示, DDOBA既可参与形成稳定的W/O型(油包水型)微乳液, 又可作为金纳米粒子的良好保护剂. 在合适的微乳液体系组成范围内, 用本实验方法可以获得高单分散性的憎水性金纳米粒子, 并能在空气/水界面上自动形成大面积短程有序的纳米金二维自组装膜.     

Micellar nucleation differential microemulsion polymerization

Polymer nanoparticles within the range of 2–5 nm with a solid content of more than 13 wt.% and a narrow molecular weight polydispersity (Mw/Mn ∼ 1.1) were for the first time prepared using a micellar nucleation differential microemulsion polymerization system emulsified by sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), with SDS/monomer (methyl methacrylate) and SDS/H₂O weight ratios of up to 1:16 and 1:100, respectively. It was found that for benzoyl peroxide (BPO), micellar nucleation is more favorable for the synthesis of smaller polymer nanoparticles than ammonium persulfate (APS) which gives rise to homogeneous nucleation and 2,2′-azobisisobutyronitrile (AIBN) which involves partially heterogeneous nucleation. In the polymerization process, there exists a critical stability concentration (CSC) of SDS, above which the size of the nanoparticles is to be minimized and stabilized. With an increase in the monomer addition rate, the polymerization system changes from a microemulsion system to an emulsion system. A mechanism was proposed to describe the micellar nucleation process of differential microemulsion polymerization. This study may contribute to the development of fine polymer nanoparticles for drug delivery systems.     

Formation of organically and inorganically passivated CdS nanoparticles in reverse microemulsions

This paper is focused on the formation of organically and inorganically passivated cadmium sulfide (CdS) nanoparticles in two different types of microemulsions. On the one hand, we used a ternary inverse microemulsion consisting of water, heptanol, and 3-(N,N-dimethyldodecylammonio)propanesulfonate and on the other hand, a poly(ethyleneimine)-based quaternary microemulsion containing water, toluene, pentanol, and sodium dodecylsulfate. UV-vis measurements confirm the formation of CdS-ZnS core-shell nanoparticles in the ternary microemulsion. Using the quaternary microemulsion template phase, polymer capped luminescent CdS nanoparticles can be formed. After a complete solvent evaporation, the nanoparticles are redispersed in water and characterized by means of dynamic light scattering and transmission electron microscopy. From the ternary microemulsion, well-stabilized CdS-ZnS core-shell nanoparticles with diameters of about 5 nm can be redispersed, but from the quaternary microemulsion, only nanoparticle aggregates of about 100 nm.     

Oil-continuous microemulsions mixed with an amphiphilic graft copolymer or with the parent homopolymer Polymer–droplet interactions as revealed by phase behavior and light scattering

Polymer–droplet interactions have been studied in AOT/water/isooctane oil-continuous microemulsions mixed with an amphiphilic graft copolymer, or with the parent homopolymer (AOT = sodium bis(2-ethylhexyl) sulfosuccinate). The graft copolymer has an oil-soluble poly(dodecyl methacrylate) backbone and water-soluble poly(ethylene glycol) side chains. Pseudo-ternary polymer/droplet/isooctane phase diagrams have been established for both the parent homopolymer and the graft copolymer, and the two types of mixture display entirely different phase behavior. The homopolymer–droplet interaction is repulsive, and a segregative phase separation occurs at high droplet concentrations. By contrast, the graft copolymer–droplet interaction is attractive: the polymer is insoluble in the pure oil, but dissolves in the microemulsion. A comparatively high concentration of droplets is required to solubilize even small amounts of polymer. Static and dynamic light scattering has been performed in order to obtain information on structure and dynamics in the two types of mixture. For optically matched microemulsions, with a vanishing excess polarizability of the droplets, the polymer dominates the intensity of scattered light. The absolute intensity of scattered light increases as phase separation is approached owing to large-scale concentration fluctuations. Dynamic light scattering shows two populations of diffusion coefficients; one population originates from “free” microemulsion droplets and the other from the polymer (for homopolymer mixtures) or from polymer–droplet aggregates (for mixtures with the graft copolymer). The graft copolymer forms large polymer–droplet aggregates with a broad size distribution, which coexist with a significant fraction of free droplets.     

Silver nanoparticle formation in microemulsions acting both as template and reducing agent

A novel method of making silver nanoparticles in water-in-oil microemulsions using the surfactants as both the reducing agent and as the structure-directing agent is presented. Since no external strong reducing agent is used the kinetics of the formation is slow, which makes it possible to study the silver nanoparticle formation in situ. The microemulsions used were based on either the nonionic surfactant Brij30 (C12E4), which reduces the silver ion to metallic silver and is thereby partly oxidized, or mixtures of Brij30 and AOT (sodium bis(2-ethylhexyl) sulfosuccinate, where the latter does not reduce the silver ions. The influences of silver ion and nonionic surfactant concentrations on the formation kinetics of the nanoparticles were followed in situ using UV-vis spectroscopy, and both parameters were found to have a big influence. The microemulsion droplet's size, size distribution, and shape were examined by small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS), and the formed silver nanoparticles were studied using both transmission electron microscopy and SAXS. The SAXS measurements showed that the presence of silver nitrate does not affect the microemulsion systems noticeably and that the droplet's size and shape are retained during the particle formation. It is shown that the size and morphology of the particles do not directly follow the shape and size of the microemulsion droplets even though there is a relation between the droplet size and the radii of the formed particles.     

Length scale effect of PCL-PB-PCL on the light scattering and dynamics of network

The effect of length scale of triblock oil-soluble polymer (poly (ε-caprolactone)–poly butadiene-poly (ε-caprolactone)) (PCL-PB-PCL) on the properties of a water-in-oil (W/O) droplet microemulsion (R ~ 5.5 nm) has been studied as a function of the amount of added telechelic polymer. Small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) measurements show that the size of the droplets is not affected by the polymer addition but it induces attractive interactions at low concentration and repulsive ones at high polymer content. Measurements of the diffusion coefficient by dynamic light scattering (DLS) show different relaxations in mixed systems. The fast diffusion coefficient increases with increase in polymer concentration. At higher polymer content, the network formation leads to an additional slow relaxation mode in DLS that can be related to the formation of clusters of microemulsion droplets interconnected by the polymer. The collective diffusion of slow relaxations decreases with increase of polymer concentrations.     

琥珀酸二异辛酯磺酸钠微乳体系中纳米银的制备及其连续相的影响

在琥珀酸二异辛酯磺酸钠(AOT)为表面活性剂、环己烷为连续相形成的微乳体系中, 利用水合肼还原AgNO₃制备了分散性良好的纳米银. 利用紫外-可见(UV-Vis)光谱和透射电镜(TEM)对所得产物进行了表征, TEM显微图像表明形成粒子为球形结构, 平均粒径为5.10 nm, 标准偏差为2.84 nm. 分别利用正己烷、正庚烷、正辛烷、环己烷和十二烷等作连续介质, 研究了微乳液中连续相对纳米银形成的影响. 随着正烷烃碳链长度的增加, 微乳液中胶束之间的交换速率增大, 形成粒子的平均粒径逐渐减小. 十二烷形成的微乳体系制备的纳米银溶胶具有最宽的共振吸收峰, 所得的纳米银粒子平均粒径最小. 环己烷形成的微乳液中反胶束具有特殊的界面强度, 导致纳米银晶核的形成速率过低, 纳米银晶粒的生长不完全.     

Synthesis of poly(o-phenylenediamine) hollow spheres and nanofibers using different oxidizing agents

Poly(o-phenylenediamine) (PoPD) hollow spheres (ca. 800 nm in outer diameter) were synthesized by a simple solution route using ammonium persulfate (APS) as the oxidizing agent, whereas PoPD nanofibers (0.5-2 μm in width and more than 100 μm in length) and gold nanoparticles (200-500 nm) were obtained when changing the oxidizing agent of APS to chlorauric acid (HAuCl₄). The chemical structures of PoPD hollow spheres and nanofibers were characterized by FTIR and XRD spectra. When using HAuCl₄ as the oxidizing agent, the products of PoPD nanofibers and gold nanoparticles could be separated by chemical methods. The monomer droplets were proposed to act as template to the formation of polymer hollow spheres while the oriented growth of polymer nanofibers might be catalyzed by gold nanoparticles.     

“Sweet” gold nanoparticles with oligosaccharide-modified poly(ethyleneimine)

This paper is focused on the use of oligosaccharide-modified hyperbranched poly(ethyleneimines) (PEI) as reducing and stabilizing agent for the formation of gold nanoparticles. The results show that the secondary amino groups of the PEI as linear units are responsible for the reduction process, and the primary amino groups as terminal units are of relevance for the particle stabilization. With regard to the final size and shape of the gold nanoparticles formed, the amount and type (maltose or maltotriose) of oligosaccharide units and structural parameters of the PEI samples are of importance. The smallest particle size of about 2 nm is obtained from a maltose-modified PEI with an excess of linear units. The size and shape of the polymer-stabilized nanoparticles can be further tuned by changing the solute concentration, the time of heating, as well as the pH value.     

A novel method for the preparation of Bi4Ti3O12 nanoparticles in w/o microemulsion

Nanometer-sized Bi₄Ti₃O₁₂ particles have been prepared by chemical reaction of bismuth nitrate pentahydrate, titanium sulfate and ammonia solution in a reverse microemulsion system consisting of water, OP (P-octyl polyethylene glycol phenylether, non-ionic surfactant), n-butanol (co-surfactant), and cyclohexane (oil). Precursor hydroxides precipitated in the droplets of water-in-oil (w/o) microemulsion were calcined at 800 °C for 4 h to form Bi₄Ti₃O₁₂ nanoparticles. The samples were investigated with X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), fourier transform infrared spectrophotometer (FT-IR) and ultraviolet visible spectrophotometer (UV–vis). It was found that the as-prepared Bi₄Ti₃O₁₂ nanoparticles had small particle sizes (35 nm), high crystallinity, narrow size distributions and strong light absorption properties not only in the ultraviolet light but also in the visible light region.     

Microemulsions as reaction media for the synthesis of Pt nanoparticles

For the synthesis of Pt nanoparticles we used water-in-oil droplet microemulsions as templates. The focus was on the correlation between the size of the microemulsion droplets and that of the resulting Pt particles. To study this correlation in a systematic way, all particles were synthesized at the water emulsification failure boundaries where the microemulsion droplets are spherical and where their size can easily be tuned by the amount of added water. The metallic particles were synthesized by mixing two microemulsions one of which contains the metal salt H(2)PtCl(6) and the other the reducing agent NaBH(4). The size and structure of the microemulsion droplets was studied via small-angle X-ray scattering, while the Pt particles were characterized by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy in combination with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and selected area electron diffraction. The clear correlation between droplet and particle size was further supported by accompanying Monte Carlo simulations.