Fabrication of hollow and mesoporous germania microspheres by templating against plasma-treated polystyrene microspheres

The surfaces of monodisperse polystyrene (PS) colloids have been modified with hydroxyl groups by means of plasma treatment technique. By templating against these surface-modified PS colloids, the germania coating PS composite microspheres were prepared via a sol–gel process. After removal of PS cores, the resulting composite microspheres converted into hollow germania microspheres with mesoporous structure. The shell thickness of these hollow spheres can be controlled by varying the concentration of germania precursor. BET results indicated that the hollow germania microspheres shell exhibits slightly broader pore size distribution than that of corresponding composite one owing to the swelling effects of the PS core during the etching process. In addition, the as-prepared germania exhibits amorphous phase which can be converted into crystalline phase by calcination treatment. It is worthy to noting that this fabrication protocol demonstrated a facile, low-cost and environment-benign way for fabricating hollow germania structures by templating method. Moreover, this protocol is not limit to germania; it also could be used to create the other hollow inorganic oxides spheres.     

Surface fabrication of hollow microspheres from N-methylated chitosan cross-linked with glutaraldehyde

We have successfully prepared biocompatible and biodegradable hollow microspheres with sizes between 2 and 5 mum using cyclohexane droplets as a template and the N-methylated chitosan (NMC) cross-linked with glutaraldehyde (GA) as the shell. The structure, morphology, and formation process of the hollow microspheres were characterized by FT-IR, (1)H and (13)C NMR, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The results revealed that the microspheres exhibited a very smooth and hollow structure. This work confirmed that the hollow microspheres were accomplished by fabricating on the basis of chemical cross-linking on the surface of the emulsion droplets and by removing cyclohexane as core. The results from SEM and TEM indicated that the emulsion droplets covered with cross-linked NMC in the oil-in-water system aggregated together to form a precipitate of microspheres by coagulating with acetone. Moreover, the cross-linked NMC on the surface of the microspheres continuously cured to form the tight shell, whereas the inner area became a cavity with increase of the aging time, leading to the hollow microspheres. In addition, an anti-infective drug, ofloxacin (Floxin), encapsulated in the microspheres more rapidly released to reach 90 wt % at pH 7.4 within 8 h than at pH 1.2.     

分级多孔γ-Al2O3空心微球微波水热法制备及其对刚果红的快速吸附

以KAl(SO₄)₂和尿素为前驱体,通过微波水热法于180 ℃反应20 min,经600 ℃焙烧2 h制得分级多孔γ-Al₂O₃空心微球.所制备的样品被用于吸附典型有机染料刚果红(CR)溶液.结果表明,制备的γ-Al₂O₃空心微球直径为0.8-1.0 μm,厚度约为200 nm.此γ-Al₂O₃空心微球具有高的比表面积(243 m²·g^-1)和分级大孔-中孔结构,此结构非常有利于液相过程中的质量传递.微波水热法制备的γ-Al₂O₃空心微球比水热法制备的γ-Al₂O₃和商用的γ-Al₂O₃样品显示出更快和更强的吸附性能.此样品的吸附数据很好地符合假二级速率方程和Langmuir吸附理论模型.从Langmuir吸附理论模型计算得到微波水热法制备的γ-Al₂O₃空心微球的最大吸附量(q_max) 25 ℃时高达515.4 mg·g^-1.由于具有分等级结构、高比表面积、大的孔容和吸附能力,微波水热法制备的γ-Al₂O₃空心微球样品有望成为一种具有很好应用潜力的环境吸附剂.     

Polysaccharides as a source of advanced materials: Cellulose hollow microspheres for drug delivery in cancer therapy

Biocompatible hollow poly(methyl acrylic acid-co-N-isopropylacrylamide-co-ethyleneglycol dimethacrylate)@cellulose succinate (P(MAA-co-NIPAAM-co-EGDMA)@CS) microspheres have been synthesized by employing uniform silica-MPS microspheres as template. Silica spheres were synthesized via Stöber method involving tetraethyl orthosilicate. The surface of resulting silica Stöber microspheres was modified using 3-methacryloxypropyltrimethoxysilane (MPS), a polymerizable silane coupling agent. The above reagent introduces carbon–carbon double bonds on microspheres’ surface. This strategy uses the copolymerization of the following monomers, methacrylic acid (MAA), N-isopropyl acrylamide (NIPAAM) and the ethyleneglycol dimethacrylate (EGDMA), which was used as cross-linker, aiming at fabricating the first shell. Distillation precipitation polymerization method was carried out with 2,2-azobis(2-methylpropionitrile) as initiator in acetonitrile aiming at coating the inorganic microspheres with organic shell of the above-mentioned copolymer. In continuation, cellulose succinate and cellulose powder was absorbed through electrostatic interactions onto microspheres’ surface and the isolated product was cross-linked through esteric bonds formation. The cellulose succinate hollow microspheres were obtained after the silica core removal. The resulting spheres were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and observed by scanning and transmission electron microscopy. Dynamic light scattering was used to study the hydrodynamic diameter of the synthesized microspheres. The anticancer drug daunorubicin was loaded in the spheres, and its release behavior was evaluated at acidic and slightly basic pH conditions, aiming at evaluating its behavior at the healthy and pathogenic tissues.     

空心玻璃微珠/TiO2复合微球的制备及其性能研究

本文以脲为沉淀剂,通过化学沉淀法成功实现了锐钛矿型二氧化钛壳层在空心玻璃微珠表面的可控组装,从而制备出玻璃/二氧化钛核壳空心微球,并通过XRD、SEM、EDX和拉曼光谱对其结构、形貌、粒径、壳厚和化学组成进行了表征.提出了二氧化钛在空心玻璃微珠表面的定向生长的可能机制和形成过程.     

Synthesis of hierarchical hollow silica microspheres containing surface nanoparticles employing the quasi-hard template of poly(4-vinylpyridine) microspheres

A facile method of preparing hierarchical hollow silica microspheres containing surface silica nanoparticles (HHSMs) through the sol-gel process of tetraethylorthosilicate employing a quasi-hard template of non-cross-linking poly(4-vinylpyridine) microspheres is proposed. The quasi-hard template contains the inherent catalyst of the basic pyridine group, and a few of the polymer chains can escape from the template matrix into the aqueous phase, which initiates the sol-gel process spontaneously both on the surface of the template used to prepare the hollow silica shell and in the aqueous phase to produce the surface silica nanoparticles. By tuning the weight ratio of the silica precursor to the quasi-hard template, HHSMs with a size of about 180 nm and a shell thickness ranging from 14 to 32 nm and surface silica nanoparticles ranging from 17 to 36 nm are produced initially through the deposition of surface silica nanoparticles onto the silica shell, followed by template removal either by calcination or solvent extraction. The synthesized HHSMs are characterized, and a possible mechanism for the synthesis of HHSMs is proposed.     

ZrO2中空微球的模板法制备及吸附性能研究

以油菜花粉为生物模板,通过温和易控的水浴-陈化法制备了纳/微米结构ZrO2中空微球.利用扫描电子显微镜(SEM)、红外光谱(FTIR)、X射线能谱(EDS)、X射线衍射(XRD)、比表面孔隙度分析、热分析等对所制备的产物和前驱体进行了表征,并对产物的吸附性能进行了初步的研究.结果表明,ZrO2中空微球的球壳由纳米粒子构筑并形成介孔结构.花粉模板前处理方式不同,其模板作用不同,可以获得两种不同球壳厚度、表面形貌和比表面积的ZrO2中空微球.其中"镂空"结构的ZrO2微球对铬黑T有良好的吸附性能.对ZrO2中空结构形成的机理进行了分析和讨论.     

Facile preparation of monodisperse hollow cross‐linked chitosan microspheres

We have successfully prepared biocompatible and biodegradable hollow microspheres using carboxyl‐functionalized polystyrene particles as core template and the chitosan cross‐linked with glutaraldehyde as the shell. The monodisperse carboxyl‐functionalized polystyrene particles were made by emulsifier‐free emulsion polymerization. The structure, morphology, and constitution of the carboxyl‐functionalized polystyrene particles were characterized by FTIR, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The structure, morphology, and formation process of the hollow cross‐linked chitosan microspheres were characterized by FTIR, SEM, and TEM. The results revealed that the latex particles were removed by exposed to solvent and the microspheres exhibited the hollow structure. This work confirmed that the hollow microspheres were accomplished by fabricating on the basis of chemical cross‐linking on the surface of the carboxyl‐functionalized polystyrene particles and then removing off the cores of particles. Moreover, with the increase of carboxyl‐functionalization degree at the surface of latexes and the increase of cross‐linking period, the thicker and firmer monodisperse hollow microspheres were obtained. In addition, a water‐soluble drug, salicylic acid, encapsulated in the microcapsules slowly released at pH 1.2. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 46: 228–237, 2008     

Template‐Free Synthesis of Hierarchical Vanadium‐Glycolate Hollow Microspheres and Their Conversion to V2O5 with Improved Lithium Storage Capability

Nanosheet‐assembled hierarchical V₂O₅ hollow microspheres are successfully obtained from V‐glycolate precursor hollow microspheres, which in turn are synthesized by a simple template‐free solvothermal method. The structural evolution of the V‐glycolate hollow microspheres has been studied and explained by the inside‐out Ostwald‐ripening mechanism. The surface morphologies of the hollow microspheres can be controlled by varying the mixture solution and the solvothermal reaction time. After calcination in air, hierarchical V₂O₅ hollow microspheres with a high surface area of 70 m² g^?1 can be obtained and the structure is well preserved. When evaluated as cathode materials for lithium‐ion batteries, the as‐prepared hierarchical V₂O₅ hollow spheres deliver a specific discharge capacity of 144 mA h g^?1 at a current density of 100 mA g^?1, which is very close to the theoretical capacity (147 mA h g^?1) for one Li⁺ insertion per V₂O₅. In addition, excellent rate capability and cycling stability are observed, suggesting their promising use in lithium‐ion batteries.     

Study on the morphological regulation mechanism of hollow silica microsphere prepared via emulsion droplet template

The morphology regulation of hollow silica microspheres is significant for their properties and applications. In this paper, hollow silica microspheres were formed through the hydrolysis and condensation reaction of tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) at the interface of the emulsion droplet templates composed of liquid paraffin and TEOS, followed by dissolving paraffin with ethanol. The effects of various factors including the emulsifier structure and content, TEOS content, catalyst type, and the ethanol content in the continuous water phase on the particle size, shell thickness and morphology of the prepared hollow silica microspheres were studied in detail. The results show that the diffusion and contact of TEOS and water molecules as well as the hydrolysis condensation reaction of TEOS at the oil-water interface are two critical processes for the synthesis and morphological regulation of hollow silica microspheres. Cationic emulsifier with a hydrophobic chain of appropriate length is the prerequisite for the successful synthesis of hollow silica microspheres. The ethanol content in water phase is the dominant factor to determine the average diameter of hollow microspheres, which can vary from 96 nm to 660 nm with the increase of the volume ratio of alcohol-water from 0 to 0.7. The silica wall thickness varies with the content and the hydrophobic chain length of the emulsifier, TEOS content, and the activity of the catalyst. The component of the soft template will affect the morphology of the silica wall. When the liquid paraffin is replaced by cyclohexane, hollow microspheres with fibrous mesoporous silica wall are fabricated. This work not only enriches the basic theory of interfacial polymerization in the emulsion system, but also provides ideas and methods for expanding the morphology and application of hollow silica microspheres.     

Synthesis of microcapsules with polystyrene/ZnO hybrid shell by Pickering emulsion polymerization

Polystyrene/zinc oxide (ZnO) hybrid microcapsules having polystyrene as inner shell and ZnO nanoparticles as outer shell were synthesized by Pickering emulsion polymerization method. ZnO nanoparticles were used to form the colloidosomes that worked as the polymerization vessels, where both styrene monomer and crosslink agent were polymerized together. Fourier transform infrared spectra and thermogravimetric thermograms showed the existence of ZnO and polystyrene in the shell of hybrid microcapsules. The hollow structure and the different morphology under various conditions were also observed by field emission scanning electron microscopy. In addition, the shell thickness of hybrid microcapsules increased as the monomer concentration increased. The photoluminescence property of PS/ZnO hybrid microcapsules could be maintained without any noticeable variation by comparing with the pure ZnO particles. It could be reasonably deduced that hybrid hollow microspheres with multifarious polymer as inner shell and ZnO nanoparticles as outer shell would be produced for many applications.     

MnS hierarchical hollow spheres with novel shell structure

High yields of MnS microspheres with novel hierarchical structure were prepared through a simple solution method. Field emission scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy analyses reveal that the microsphere has a core-shell structure: the interior hollow sphere is covered by a shell consisting of nanorod arrays. Interestingly, the nanorod is a wurtzite (WZ)/zinc blende (ZB) phase admixture with a large amount of stacking faults/twins. The alternation of WZ and ZB along the growth direction of the nanorod enables it to exhibit the features of a quantum well. Furthermore, the WZ/ZB admixture structure could also be regarded as a type II homomaterial heterostructure. All these features imply that the novel core-shell structure has great potential for applications, among them the quantum well photoelectrical and heterostructure photoconduction fields.     

聚合物模板微球表面电性对中空二氧化硅微球形貌的影响

分别以过硫酸钾和偶氮二异丁基脒盐酸盐为引发剂,以聚乙烯吡咯烷酮(PVP)为分散剂,在水中引发苯乙烯聚合制备了2种表面分别带负电性和正电性基团的聚苯乙烯(PS)模板微球.在氨水催化下,利用正硅酸乙酯的水解缩合,形成PS/SiO_2复合微球,去除模板后得到中空SiO_2微球,并对其进行FTIR、电子显微镜、TGA以及氮气吸附等分析表征.结果表明,PS模板微球表面的电性决定了OH-的分布,从而导致PS模板微球表面SiO_2壳层不同的形成机制.当以表面带负电的PS微球为模板时,可得到树莓状的中空SiO_2微球;而以表面带正电的PS微球为模板时,得到是表面光滑的,具有介孔结构的中空SiO_2微球.     

A new simple method to prepare hollow PES microspheres

A new simple method for the formation of hollow polyethersulfone (PES) microspheres was reported in this paper. Coaxial electrospraying equipment and nonsolvent precipitating bath were used to produce hollow microspheres in one step. The properties of the core solution affected the formation of hollow PES microspheres. To form hollow microspheres in one step, the core solution should be removed directly by a nonsolvent. Additionally, the core solution should also be used to occupy the internal space of microspheres and form a supporting layer at the interface between the core solution and the shell solution. The supporting layer formed by the micro-phase that was caused by the phase separation of the core or shell solution was the key factor for the formation of hollow PES microspheres. The performance of hollow microspheres produced by this method was excellent. This method provided a new simple way to form hollow polymer microspheres and can be extended to other polymers to prepare hollow microspheres in one step.     

Facile synthesis of monodisperse microspheres and gigantic hollow shells of mesoporous silica in mixed water-ethanol solvents

Mesoporous silica materials with a variety of morphologies, such as monodisperse microspheres, gigantic hollow structures comprising a thin shell with a hole, and gigantic hollow structures consisting of an outer thin shell and an inner layer composed of many small spheres, have been readily synthesized in mixed water-ethanol solvents at room temperature using cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) as the template. The obtained mesoporous silica generally shows a disordered mesostructure with typical average pore sizes ranging from 3.1 to 3.8 nm. The effects of the water-to-ethanol volume ratio (r), the volume content of tetraethyl orthosilicate TEOS (x), and the CTAB concentration in the solution on the final morphology of the mesoporous silica products have been investigated. The growth process of gigantic hollow shells of mesoporous silica through templating emulsion droplets of TEOS in mixed water-ethanol solution has been monitored directly with optical microscopy. Generally, the morphology of mesoporous silica can be regulated from microspheres through gigantic hollow structures composed of small spheres to gigantic hollow structures with a thin shell by increasing the water-to-ethanol volume ratio, increasing the TEOS volume content, or decreasing the CTAB concentration. A plausible mechanism for the morphological regulation of mesoporous silica by adjusting various experimental parameters has been put forward by considering the existing state of the unhydrolyzed and partially hydrolyzed TEOS in the synthesis system.     

Effects of shell composition,dosage and alkali type on the morphology of polymer hollow microspheres

Polymer hollow microspheres were prepared by performing alkali treatment on the multilayer core/shell polymer latex particles containing carboxyl groups. Effects of the shell composition and dosage as well as alkali type on the morphology of the microspheres were investigated. Results showed that in comparison with acrylonitrile(AN) and methacrylic acid(MAA), using butyl acrylate(BA) as the shell co-monomer decreased the glass transition temperature(T_g) of shell effectively and was beneficial to the formation of uniform and big hollow structure. Along with the increase of the shell dosage, the alkali-treated microspheres sequentially presented porous and hollow morphology, and the size of microspheres increased, while the hollow diameter increased first and then decreased, and the maximum hollow ratio reached 39.5%. Furthermore, the multilayer core/shell microspheres had better tolerance to NH_3·H_2O than to NaOH. When the molar ratio of alkali to methacrylic acid(MR_(alkali/acid)) for Na OH ranged from 1.15 to 1.30 or MRalkali/acid for NH_3·H_2O ranged from 1.30 to 2.00, the regular polymer hollow microspheres could be obtained.     

Room temperature synthesis of hollow CdMoO(4) microspheres by a surfactant-free aqueous solution route

Hollow cadmium molybdate microspheres have been successfully prepared via a template-free aqueous solution method with the assistance of NaCl at room temperature. The structure and morphology of the CdMoO(4) hollow microspheres were characterized by X-ray diffraction, field-emission scanning electron microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy. The microspheres have diameters of 3-6 microm and hollow interiors of 2-3 microm. The shell is composed of numerous single-crystalline nanorods with diameters of 30-120 nm and lengths of 1-2 microm which are radially oriented to the center. A certain concentration of NaCl plays a key important role in the formation process of hollow microspheres, which might provide a suitable chemical environment to favor the formation of hollow CdMoO(4) microspheres. A possible NaCl-induced Ostwald ripening process is proposed for the formation of hollow CdMoO(4) microspheres on the basis of scanning electron microscopy observation of intermediate products at different precipitation stages.     

Preparation of PLGA microspheres with different porous morphologies

Poly(D,L-lactide-co-glycolide)(PLGA) microspheres were prepared by emulsion solvent evaporation method. The influences of inner aqueous phase, organic solvent, PLGA concentration on the morphology of microspheres were studied. The results showed that addition of porogen or surfactants to the inner aqueous phase, types of organic solvents and polymer concentration affected greatly the microsphere morphology. When dichloromethane was adopted as organic solvent, microspheres with porous structure were produced. When ethyl acetate served as organic solvent, two different morphologies were obtained. One was hollow microspheres with thin porous shell under a lower PLGA concentration, another was erythrocyte-like microspheres under a higher PLGA concentration. Three types of microspheres including porous, hollow core with thin porous shell(denoted by hollow in brief) and solid structures were finally selected for in vitro drug release tests. Bovine serum albumin(BSA) was chosen as model drug and encapsulated within the microspheres. The BSA encapsulation efficiency of porous, hollow and solid microspheres was respectively 90.4%, 79.8% and 0. And the ultimate accumulative release was respectively 74.5%, 58.9% and 0. The release rate of porous microspheres was much slower than that of hollow microspheres. The experiment results indicated that microspheres with different porous structures showed great potentials in controlling drug release behavior.     

Reversible addition‐fragmentation chain transfer polymerization of a typical hydrophobic monomer of styrene within microreactor of shell‐corona hollow microspheres suspending in water

Reversible addition‐fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization of a typical hydrophobic monomer of styrene within microreactor of shell‐corona hollow microspheres of poly(styrene‐co‐methacrylic acid) suspending in water is studied. The shell‐corona hollow microspheres contain a hydrophilic corona of poly(methacrylic acid) (PMAA) and a cross‐linked polystyrene shell, which can suspend in water because of the hydrophilic corona of PMAA. The size of the shell‐corona hollow microspheres is about 289 nm and the extent of the microcavity of the hollow microsphere is 154 nm. These shell‐corona hollow microspheres can act as microreactor, within which the typical hydrophobic monomer of styrene, the RAFT agent of S‐benzyl dithiobenzoate and the initiator of 2,2′‐azobisisobutyronitrile can be encapsulated and RAFT polymerization of styrene takes place in well controlled manner in water. It is found that the resultant polymer of polystyrene has a competitively low polydispersity index and its number‐average molecular weight linearly increases with monomer conversion. The method is believed to be a new strategy of RAFT polymerization of hydrophobic monomer in aqueous solution. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2010     

Co-electrospinning of core-shell fibers using a single-nozzle technique

Co-electrospinning is ideally suited for fabricating continuous fibers encasing materials within a polymer sleeve, but requires relatively complex coannular nozzles. A single-nozzle co-electrospinning technique is demonstrated using blends of poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA)/polyacrylonitrile (PAN) solutions in dimethylformamide (DMF). The as-spun fibers have outer diameters in the range of 0.5-5 microm and possess a core-shell structure similar to that attained via coannular nozzles. The technique relies on the precipitation of PMMA solution droplets, which become trapped at the base of the Taylor cone issuing the PAN solution jet from its tip. A theoretical analysis shows that the outer shell flow is sufficiently strong to stretch the inner droplet into the Taylor cone, thus forming a core-shell jet. The method seems attractive for technological applications involving macroscopically long and radially inhomogeneous or hollow nano/micro fibers.