The preparation of amphiphilic core‐shell nanospheres by using water‐soluble macrophotoinitiator |
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| Authors: | Shurun Li Jianping Deng Wantai Yang |
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| Institution: | 1. State Key Laboratory of Chemical Resource Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing 100029, China;2. College of Materials Science and Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing 100029, China |
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| Abstract: | The amphiphilic poly(AM‐co‐SA)‐ITXH macrophotoinitiator was synthesized by precipitation photopolymerization under UV irradiation with isopropylthioxanthone (ITX) as free radical photoinitiator. A novel method has been developed to prepare amphiphilic core‐shell polymer nanospheres via photopolymerization of methyl methacrylate (MMA) in aqueous media, with amphiphilic copolymer macrophotoinitiator poly(AM‐co‐SA)‐ITXH. During polymerization, the amphiphilic macroradicals underwent in situ self‐assembly to form polymeric micelles, which promoted the emulsion polymerization of the monomer. Thus, amphiphilic core‐shell nanospheres ranging from 70 to 140 nm in diameter were produced in the absence of surfactant. The conversion of the monomer, number average molecular weights (Mn), and particle size were found to be highly dependent on the macrophotoinitiator and monomer concentration. The macrophotoinitiator and amphiphilic particles were characterized by FTIR, UV‐vis, 1H NMR, TEM, DSC, and contact angle measurements. The results showed the particles had well‐defined amphiphilic core‐shell structure. This new method is scientifically and technologically significant because it provides a commercially viable route to a wide variety of novel amphiphilic core‐shell nanospheres. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 48: 936–942, 2010 |
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| Keywords: | amphiphilic core‐shell polymers isopropylthioxanthone macrophotoinitiator micelles nanoparticles photopolymerization water‐soluble polymers |
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