ABSTRACT:Cationic graft-polymerizations of 2-methyl-2-oxazoline on p-nitrobenzenesulfonate group-introduced silica composite particles, prepared by polymer coating of monodispersed colloidal silica of 470 nm in diameter, were studied. Ring-opening polymerization of the oxazoline was observed to take place on poly(styrene)-coated silica particles, derived from radical copolymerization of styrene, hydroxymethylstyrene and divinylbenzene, but most grafted polymer chains were dragged out for lack of cross-linking in the copolymer layer. The polymerization of the oxazoline on the composite surface, made from poly(maleic anhydride-styrene)-modified silica particles, led to the grafting of oligomer chains of octamer or nanomer, which were terminated by reaction with water molecules inside the particles.KEY WORDS Graft Polymerization / Ultrafine Particles / Monodispersed Colloidal Silica / Cationic Polymerization / Polymer Modification / Polyoxazoline / Monodispersed inorganic colloidal ultrafine particles are lately of interest for application to new functional materials, because of controllable size and spherical shape. 1 · 2 We have been developing composite materials exhibiting specific functionality from polymermodified colloidal silica particles. One goal is control of ordered structure in a polymer matrix or construction of reversible sol-gel systems, composed of unimodal colloidal particles, through surface hydrophobic or electrostatic interactions. Hence, surface polymercoating of colloidal particles and introduction of hydrophobicity or electric charges are markedly significant processes. In our previous work, we reported effective polymer-coating on colloidal silica particles by use of polymer silane coupling agents 3 .4 and radical polymerizations5·6 without particles aggregation. Functional groups of amino, carboxyl, 7 • 8 and hydroxyl 9 were efficiently introduced on the composite surface.