One-step preparation of PS/TiO2 nanocomposite particles via miniemulsion polymerization

This paper presents a one-step method to fabricate PS/TiO2 nanocomposite particles via miniemulsion polymerization technique. In this approach, styrene (St) and acetylacetone (Acac) chelated tetra-n-butyl titanate (TBT) were confined in the miniemulsion droplets with the aid of cationic surfactant cetyl trimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB) and co-stabilizer hexadecane (HD). During the polymerization of St, TBT diffused towards the surface of the miniemulsion droplets owing to its hydrophilicity and yielded TiO2 particles via a sol–gel process. With the electrostatic interaction between the positively charged CTAB and negatively charged Ti-OH, TiO2 particles were coated onto the PS cores to form PS/TiO2 nanocomposite particles.

Graphical abstractRaspberry-like PS/TiO2 nanocomposite particles have been prepared through a one-step method based on miniemulsion polymerization. The polymerization of styrene and sol–gel reaction of tetra-n-butyl titanate occurred simultaneously inside droplets.Figure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload high-quality image (62 K)Download as PowerPoint slide