Emulsion-based processes – such as miniemulsion polymerizations – provide well-studied synthetic routes to polymer nanomaterials. Miniemulsion polymerizations are characterized as aqueous dispersions of small, narrowly distributed monomer droplets created though high shear and stabilized against Ostwald ripening/collisional degradation by addition of an appropriate surfactant and costabilizer. In this work, thiol–yne photopolymerization in miniemulsion is demonstrated as a simple, rapid, and one-pot synthetic approach to polythioether nanoparticles with tuneable particle size and clickable functionality.<br/>Nanoparticles with mean particle diameters ranging from 45 nm to 200 nm were synthesized through simple modifications to the miniemulsion formulation and processing parameters.<br/>Facile access to thiol or alkyne functional nanoparticles, and subsequent postpolymerization modifications of these functional moieties using thiol-Michael, thiol-yne, and CuAAC click reactions are explored. The strategy is also useful in the synthesis of composite polymer–inorganic nanoparticles such as silver.

Functional, composite polythioether nanoparticles via thiol-alkyne photopolymerization in miniemulsion

251st National Meeting (2016)

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