Morphology control and 2D self-assembly of poly(styrene-co-divinylbenzene) capsules

In this paper, monodisperse poly(styrene-co-divinylbenzene) (PS-DVB) capsules with a bowl-like morphology were prepared controllably by regulating the content of DVB and dispersant. Using as-prepared PS-DVB capsules as building blocks, two-dimensional (2D) uniform hexagonal close-packed array with same orientation of each bowl was successfully fabricated by solvent evaporation. The size distribution showed that the capsules were still spherical in acetone before assembly and thus certified that the capsules caved in after self-assembly. Many factors including DVB content in capsules, experimental temperature and dispersants play important roles on regularity of orientation. Besides, “local self-assembly” array using multi-caved capsule as building blocks was obtained. More study proceeds with it, further advanced materials with complex functionalities or peculiar behavior could be expected.

Graphical abstractA facile technique for achieving bowl-like or multi-cupped poly(styrene-co-divinylbenzene) capsules and their highly uniform hexagonal close-packed arrays or “local self-assembly” were provided. Figure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload high-quality image (61 K)Download as PowerPoint slideHighlights► Both the prepared bowl-like and multi-cupped PS-DVB capsules possess of well-defined morphology and narrow size distribution. ► Control over the morphology and 2D self-assembly of PS-DVB capsules with variation in composition of capsules’ type, temperature and dispersant. ► The mechanism for hexagonal close-packed arrays was proposed as that the capsules caved in after self-assembly of spherical PS-DVB capsules.