Preparation of double-responsive SiO2-g-PDMAEMA nanoparticles via ATRP

Organic/inorganic hybrid materials have both the advantages of organic polymers and inorganic materials, and now have become a new hotspot in material science. We choose Poly((2-Dimethylamino)ethyl methacrylate) (PDMAEMA), which was grafted from the surface of silica nanoparticles via atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) to form pH and temperature stimuli-responsive hybrid nanoparticles. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) was used to estimate the content of linked organic compound, and transmission electron micrographs (TEM) was used to observe the shell–core structure of hybrid nanoparticles. Double stimuli-response was characterized with ZetaPALS Zeta Potential Analyzer. The results showed that the hybrid nanoparticles were successfully synthesized and had the expected double stimuli-response.