A general route to the synthesis of PS/metal composites and their conversion to metal hollow microspheres

Abstract

In this work, we put forward a simple and universal electroless plating approach to synthesize polystyrene/metal (PS/M) composite spheres, and hollow metal (e.g. Ni, Co, Cu) structures were also obtained after removing the PS core. Monodisperse PS microspheres were initially synthesized via a dispersion polymerization, and then these PS spheres activated with Pd served as templates for the synthesis of PS/M core–shell composite. The parameter of temperature was investigated in details, which strongly influenced the quality and morphology of metal coatings. Based on the above core–shell structures, the PS core template could be removed by ethyl acetate, and metal hollow spheres were formed finally. X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy characterizations indicated that elemental Ni, Co, and Cu coatings with highly pure phase were successfully deposited onto the surfaces of PS microspheres. Such PS/M composites with low density would have wide applications in electromagnetic shielding fields.