Hydrophobic Monomers Recognize Microenvironments in Hydrogel Microspheres during Free-Radical-Seeded Emulsion Polymerization |
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Authors: | Takumi Watanabe Yuichiro Nishizawa Haruka Minato Dr. Chihong Song Prof. Dr. Kazuyoshi Murata Prof. Dr. Daisuke Suzuki |
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Affiliation: | 1. Graduate School of Textile Science & Technology, Shinshu University, 3-15-1 Tokida Ueda, Nagano, 386-8567 Japan;2. Department National Institute for Physiological Sciences, 38 Nishigonaka, Okazaki, Aichi, 444-8585 Japan |
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Abstract: | The three-dimensional structure of nanocomposite microgels was precisely determined by cryo-electron micrography. Several nanocomposite microgels that differ with respect to their nanocomposite structure, which were obtained from seeded emulsion polymerization in the presence of microgels, were used as model nanocomposite materials for cryo-electron micrography. The obtained three-dimensional segmentation images of these nanocomposite microgels provide important insights into the interactions between the hydrophobic monomers and the microgels, that is, hydrophobic styrene monomers recognize molecular-scale differences in polarity within the microgels during the emulsion polymerization. This result led to the formation of unprecedented multi-layered nanocomposite microgels, which promise substantial potential in colloidal applications. |
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Keywords: | cryo-electron microscopy hydrogel microspheres microgels nanocomposite materials seeded emulsion polymerization |
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