Poly(N-ethylmethacrylamide) thermally-sensitive microgel latexes: effect of the nature of the crosslinker on the polymerization kinetics and physicochemical properties

Abstract

Thermally-sensitive crosslinked submicronic particles were prepared by an emulsion/precipitation process of N-ethylmethacrylamide (NEMAM), using potassium persulphate as initiator and four different crosslinkers; ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EGDMA), 1,3-butanediol dimethacrylate (1,3-BDDMA), 1,4-butanediol dimethacrylate (1,4-BDDMA) and tetraethylene glycol dimethacrylate (TEGDMA). At first, polymerization kinetics was studied by NMR, revealing the negligible effect of the crosslinker nature. On the contrary, the water-soluble polymer amounts, the final hydrodynamic particle size, the swelling ability, the electrokinetic properties were found to be dependent upon the nature of crosslinker. The final latexes were found to be narrowly size distributed irrespective of the crosslinker agent's chemical nature. In this study, the water solubility of the cross-linker was reported to be an important criterion, but other factors, such as diffusion and reactivity, have to be taken into consideration.

A straightforward synthesis of fluorescent and temperature‐responsive nanogels

“…TEM observations indicate that the core appears much darker in contrast than the surrounding part, thus confirming the 1 H NMR measurements that revealed the presence of a core‐shell structure for the nanogels. Such a behavior was documented in transmission electron micrographs of crosslinked poly( N ‐ethylmethacrylamide) 24, 25…”

Novel antifouling oligo(ethylene glycol) methacrylate particles via surfactant-free emulsion polymerization

“…In this study, all of the recipes involve 64% (v/v) PEGEEM, causing the total dissolution of this monomer in the aqueous phase at the beginning of the polymerizations. However, EGDMA is a slightly hydrophobic cross-linker with limited water solubility (5.4 mmol/L) [19]. Considering these solubility data, the current system displays the characteristics of both dispersion polymerization and SFEP where the former mechanism is dominant for low EGDMA contents with complete dissolution of the monomers in the continuous phase (e.g.…”

Microgels by Precipitation Polymerization: Synthesis, Characterization, and Functionalization

“…Elaissari and coworkers reported synthesis of poly(N-ethylmethacrylamide) (PNEMAM) microgels by using various crosslinkers exhibiting different solubility in water, namely tetraethylene glycol dimethacrylate (TEGMA) ( ) [58]. The authors reported that the VPTT of obtained microgels was not influenced by the crosslinker type, but that the R h of colloids increased with the watersolubility of the crosslinker (320, 350, 370, and 430 nm for TEGDMA-, EGDMA-, 1,3-BDDMA-, and 1,4-BDDMA microgels, respectively).…”