Hydrogel particles, or microgels, are composed of cross-linked hydrophilic (or amphiphilic) polymer chains and they were used for a variety of applications because of their specific properties such as high colloidal stability, softness and stimuli-responsivity. Since Pelton and Chibante first prepared a uniform poly(N-isopropylacrylamide), pNIPAm microgels, variety types of composite microgels were reported such as core-shell microgels and hollow microgels. In general, the core-shell (or hollow) types of microgels were synthesized by seeded precipitation polymerization with water-soluble monomer. Under such back ground, we have reported that a series of microgel/solid composite microgels were synthesized by seeded emulsion polymerization (SEP) with hydrophobic (water insoluble) monomer such styrene (Figure).1-3 Different from the conventional microgels, our composite microgels are non-spherical. Moreover, the characterization of morphology of composite microgels lead to understanding the relationships between the properties of the local micro-hydrogel environment, such as polarity and hydrophobicity, and the capability to serve as a nucleation site for hydrophobic polystyrene particles. These finding will help to design novel shape-anisotropic composite micro-hydrogels for potential applications in the variety fields, and to understanding the interaction between microgels and hydrophobic materials. In this study, we demonstrated the seeded emulsion polymerization in the presence of polyelectrolytes microgels with styrene and polystyrene nanoparticles could not form the polyelectrolytes within core microgels. The results indicated that the charge distribution within the core microgels is key factor for designing morphology of composite microgels.4

Synthesis of hydrogel/solid composite microgels by seeded emulsion polymerization in the presence of polyelectrolytes microgels

255th National Meeting (2018)

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