Abstract: | Poly(styrene) (PST) coatings of monodispersed colloidal metal oxide particles by surface grafting to poly(N-vinyl-2-pyrrolidone) (ST–PVP) or quaternized poly(4-vinylpyridine) (ST-PVPy(Me)) macromer, having a vinylphenylene end group, were investigated. Radical polymerization of styrene (ST) in ethanolic silica colloid in the presence of ST-PVP successfully led to the formation of monodispersed PST/PVP copolymer/SiO2composites. The addition of divinylbenzene (DVB) to the reaction system gave SiO2 composites coated with crosslinked PST. Graft-polymerization of ST to ST-PVP also took place on TiO2, CeO2 and Al(OH)3 colloidal particles in ethanolic solution. However, ST-PVPy(Me) adsorbed on colloidal silica did not effectively graft PST. |