Synthesis of Prussian Blue Coordination Polymer Nanocubes via Confinement of the Polymerization Field Using Miniemulsion Periphery Polymerization (MEPP)

Abstract

Miniemulsion periphery polymerization (MEPP) has been used for the synthesis of Prussian blue (PB) nanocubes. Pentacyano ferrate functionalized surfactant in combination with a co-surfactant containing 4-(dimethylamino)-pyridine (DMAP) or OH end groups in lieu of ferrate functionality (EPE-DMAP or EPE-OH) were used to prepare a miniemulsion system comprising 20 wt.-% toluene and 0.5 wt.-% total surfactant. On addition of Fe(3+) to the miniemulsion, metal coordination polymerization occurred with nanocubes generated when the ratio of EPE-Fe:EPE-DMAP (or EPE-OH) was 60:40 (w/w). The resulting nanocubes are apparently amorphous. Particles with irregular shape have been observed on reacting EPE-Fe and Fe(3+) directly in water, thus suggesting that confinement of the polymerization field on the periphery of the miniemulsion droplets is a primary factor in the formation of cubic structures.

Tiny nanoparticles of organometallic polymers through the direct disassembly-assisted synthesis strategy for hydrogen peroxide sensing

“…BEB aggregates have a huge aggregation number of 21000. The aggregation 25 number of BEB-PB nanoparticles decreased drastically with increasing cyanoferrate fractions of BEB-Fe. BEB-PB26 had an aggregation number as small as 37, three orders of magnitude lower than that of BEB.…”

“…42 Thus, it is interesting to investigate the effect of cyanoferrate fraction on the size of BEB-PB particles. Particle size of BEB-PB was monitored 25 using dynamic light scattering (DLS). For the purpose of comparison, the size of BEB was also measured.…”

“…Polymer/inorganic hybrid nanostructures present a catalog of promising functional nanomaterials where polymer and inorganic 25 constituents are compounded at molecule level with at least one dimension at nanoscale. 1,2 Due to large surface and multiple components, hybrid nanomaterials exhibit exceptional mechanical, magnetic, and conductive properties.…”

“…Decreased phaseseparation strength subsequently results in ill-defined nanoparticles. Consequently, it seems that it is unwise to fabricate 25 tiny nanoparticles through self-assembly of block copolymers. Keep polymers having a chain length of a few nanometers in mind, it is favorable to take an opposite strategy, disassembly rather than self-assembly of polymers, namely "splitting" a few polymer chains from large aggregates to form tiny aggregates or 30 nanoparticles.…”

Graphene-induced tiny flowers of organometallic polymers with ultrathin petals for hydrogen peroxide sensing

“…Hybrid flowers combine the advantages of both components including flexibility of polymers and catalytic performance of inorganic metal species, generating new and desirable functions. This enables them to meet the overall requirements for engineering applications such as superior catalytic performance together with acceptable mechanical strength and stability for biosensors [12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24]. Moreover, synthesis of hybrid flowers is crucial for fundamentally understanding the correlation among composition, structure and property of nanomaterials.…”