Nonspherical latex particles are of great interest in the field of colloids and materials science. However, the shape control of latex particles has been a key challenge for material scientists since the surface tension prioritizes formation of spherical particles for minimizing the surface energy. Traditional polymerization method involves precise control of the experimental conditions, including the cross-linking density of seed latex, swelling, feeding mode of cross-linker and polymerization time[1,2]. Herein, we report a facile method to prepare nonspherical amphiphilic random copolymer of poly(styrene-co-methacrylic acid) (poly(St-co-PMAA)) colloidal particles with well-defined shapes and high yields by varying the molar ratio of styrene (St) to methacrylic acid (MAA) based on emulsifier-free polymerization. In our strategy, no seeds, no cross-linker, and no multi-step control were needed. Due to the presence of carboxyl groups, these colloidal particles can be used as templates for fabricating core-shell nonspherical functional materials, such as poly(St-co-PMAA)@SiO2, poly(St-co-PMAA)@polypyrrole). The corresponding hollow structures (SiO2and Polypyrrole) could be obtained after removal of the templates. Figure 1. <img src='https://acs-archive-assets2.s3.amazonaws.com/241nm/uploads/70521_acs_ortep.jpg' alt='' /> Figure 1. SEM images of nonspherical particles. A) poly(St-co-PMAA), B) poly(St-co-PMAA)@SiO2; C) poly(St-co-PMAA)@polypyrrole. TEM images of the corresponding hollow particles in the inset, scale bar: 100nm.References: [1] Xu, L.; Li, H.; Jiang, X.; Wang, J.; Li, L.; Song, Y.; Jiang, L. Macromol. Rapid Commun. 2010 , 31, 1422-1426.[2] Huang, Y.; Wang, J.; Zhou, J.; Xu, L.; Li, Z.; Zhang, Y.; Wang, J.; Song, Y.; Jiang, L. Macromolecules 2011 , 44, 2404-2409.

Facile synthesis of uniform nonspherical polymeric colloidal particles

248th National Meeting (2014)

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