Synthesis of microspheres with microphase-separated shells

✍ Scribed by Reiko Saito; Akifumi Fujita; Ayako Ichimura; Koji Ishizu

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2000
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 191 KB
• Volume: 38
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0887-624X
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1099-0518(20000601)38:11<2091::aid-pola180>3.0.co;2-w

✦ Synopsis

Novel structural microspheres of the Janus type, with microphase-separated polystyrene (PS) and poly(tert-butyl methacrylate) (PBMA) shells and crosslinked poly(2-vinyl pyridine) (PVP) cores, were synthesized with the crosslinking of PVP spherical domains in poly(styrene-block-2-vinyl pyridine-block-tert-butyl methacrylate) ABC triblock terpolymer film with PS/PBMA lamellae-PVP spherical structures. For the formation of lamellae-sphere structures, toluene, which was a selective solvent for the ABC triblock terpolymer, was used. With the crosslinking of PVP spheres in the microphase-separated film with 1,4-diiodobutane gas, the microphase structure of the terpolymer was fixed, and microspheres composed of microphase-separated PS and PBMA shells and P2VP cores were obtained. The size distribution of the purified microspheres was narrow. The characteristics of the microspheres and their aggregation behaviors in selective solvents were investigated by transmission electron microscopy and light scattering methods.