The control of the morphology of nanoparticles is a hot issue all over the world.Organic-inorganic materials can be tailor-made with an infinite number of architectures and in diverse forms conveniently.A new type of organic-inorganic hybrid material was reported to be synthesized by emulsion polymerization by using the monomers which contained alkoxysilane groups.However
polymerization and morphology could hardly be controled during the emulsion process
because the alkoxysilane group was easy to be subjected to hydrolysis and condensation by sol-gel process which decreased the stability of the latex.In the present work
organic-inorganic hybrid core-shell nanoparticles were synthesized by seeded emulsion polymerization.Through morphology design
polystyrene
as seeded cores
was synthesized firstly
then 3-trimethoxysilyl propyl methacrylate (MPS) was added to form MPS-styrene copolymer shell on the surface of polystyrene core. Owing to the hydrolysis-condensation of organic alkoxysilane groups in MPS
the organic-inorganic hybrid shell was formed through sol-gel process.The core-shell structure was interpreted by thermodynamical representation and characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM).The nonionic surfactant used would decrease the stability of the latex.In acidic condition the latex turned into gel just after the addition of MPS
while
in basic condition the particle number decreased obviously
and the latex kept almost stable in neutral condition.The higher the MPS concentration in the emulsion was
the less stability the latex had.Adding MPS continuously could keep the latex more stable and the particle size could be controlled by this method.Then
the core of this kind of hybrid nanoparticles could be dissolved to yield hollow nanocapsules