Fabrication of carbon black/crosslinked poly(vinyl pyrrolidone) core-shell nanoparticles stable in water

Colloidal nanoparticles consisting of oxidized carbon black (CB) coated by poly(vinyl pyrrolindone) (PVP) were fabricated by a simple phase separation method. The morphology of the CB/PVP composite nanoparticles demonstrated by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) indicated a core-shell structure for the composite. Crosslinking reaction was undertaken to tighten the contact between the PVP shell and the CB core, which made the nanocomposite much more stable in water. The particle size distribution for the nanoparticles was narrow with the mean diameter of 62 nm. The effects of two principle parameters, which are the amount of nonsolvent for PVP and the crosslinking initiator, were also investigated.