Thermoresponsive PNIPAM/silica nanoparticles by direct photopolymerization in aqueous media |
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| Authors: | Hua Zou Helmut Schlaad |
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| Institution: | 1. Department of Colloid Chemistry, Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces, Research Campus Golm, Potsdam, Germany;2. School of Materials Science & Engineering, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, 516 Jungong Road, Yangpu District, Shanghai, China;3. University of Potsdam, Institute of Chemistry, Karl‐Liebknecht‐Str. 24–25, Potsdam, Germany |
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| Abstract: | This article presents a simple and facile method to fabricate thermoresponsive polymer‐grafted silica particles by direct surface‐initiated photopolymerization of N‐isopropylacrylamide (NIPAM). This method is based on silica particles bearing thiol functionalities, which are transformed into thiyl radicals by irradiation with UV light to initiate the polymerization of NIPAM in aqueous media at room temperature. The photopolymerization of NIPAM could be applied to smaller thiol‐functionalized particles (～48 nm) as well as to larger particles (～692 nm). Hollow poly(NIPAM) capsules could be formed after etching away the silica cores from the composite particles. It is possible to produce tailor‐made composite particles or capsules for particular applications by extending this approach to other vinyl monomers. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 2015 , 53, 1260–1267 |
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| Keywords: | nanocomposites nanoparticles photopolymerization silica nanoparticles surface‐initiated photopolymerization thermoresponsive thiol |
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