Nanocomposite Polymer Colloids Prepared via Emulsion Polymerization and Stabilized Using Polydopamine-Coated Silica Particles

Abstract

Polymer/inorganic colloidal nanocomposites can be prepared via Pickering emulsion polymerization (PEP); however, this process usually requires the use of surfactants, auxiliary comonomers, and volatile organic compounds. Herein, we report a versatile and efficient method for synthesizing stable monodisperse polymer/silica colloidal nanocomposite particles via PEP. First, silica nanoparticles were modified by depositing a multifunctional polydopamine (PDA) film. The outermost PDA film could enhance the precipitation of oligomeric polymer radicals on the silica surface, which is crucial for the preparation of stable polymer/inorganic colloidal nanocomposites via PEP. Notably, this PDA modification approach can employ different initiator systems, such as cationic initiators and redox initiator couples, and can be applied to various monomers and monomer pairs (St, St/nBA, MMA, MMA/nBA, Vac, Vac/nBA). The influence of the concentration and size of polydopamine-coated silica (SiO2@PDA) on the colloidal nanocomposite was investigated. Increasing the diameter of SiO2@PDA and decreasing the concentration of SiO2@PDA both lead to the formation of larger nanocomposite particles. Considering its wide applicability, the proposed PDA modification approach can be applied to other functional inorganic particles to prepare multifunctional polymer/inorganic nanocomposite particles.

Physicochemical properties of functionalized A200 and SBA-15 nanoparticles with enhanced amphiphilicity for Pickering emulsions

“…16 Inspired by mussel adhesion proteins, [17][18][19] dopamine and its derivatives can be grafted onto the surface of any inorganic or organic material by the ''grafting to'' method, 20 which utilizes the inherent adhesive properties of catechol groups. 21 Herein, a methoxy poly(ethylene glycol)-poly(dopamine methacrylamide) (mPEG-PDMA, abbreviated as mp) amphiphilic block copolymer was designed and synthesized by the atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) method, where PDMA and mPEG were used as the adhesion block and functional backbone, respectively. Therefore, the mPEG-PDMA copolymer can be grafted onto different substrates by a simple dip-coating method.…”

Effect of the Preparation Methodology of Polydopamine-Containing Systems over Light-to-Thermal Energy Conversion Performance

“…In literature, different types of polystyrene-based composite systems have been prepared for various goals by integrating PDA into the composite product. In these studies, PDA has been added to the system by dispersing the separately prepared PDA particles in the PS matrix , or by coating the surface of the PS-based product with the PDA layer. , PDA can be integrated into PS-based composite systems with its hybrid nanoparticle form that is prepared as the coated surface of a secondary particle with a PDA layer . However, these designs are all in multicomponent and possibly inhomogeneous forms, which may need to be improved in fabrication, ecofriendliness, cost-effectiveness, and ease of applicability.…”