Fabrication and characterization of silver/polystyrene nanospheres with more complete coverage of silver nano-shell

In the present work, the silver/polystyrene nanospheres with more uniform particle size and more complete coverage of silver nano-shell have been prepared. The formation of the silver/polystyrene nanospheres was realized by adopting a “one-pot” route. The styrene monomer was at first emulsified by OP-10 to form micelle. The mercaptoethanol played an important role in the process of forming silver/polystyrene shell-core structure. Polymerization of styrene was initiated by the redox system composed of AgNO3/NaBH4. When Ag+ ion was reduced to Ag, it deposited on the surface of the polystyrene nanoparticle to form uniform metallic nanoshell. The morphology of the silver/polystyrene nanospheres have been characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectrometry, X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, dynamic light scattering and UV-visible absorption measurements.