Novel Strategy for the Synthesis of Polymer/Pigment Hybrid Latex via Sulfur-Free RAFT-Mediated Emulsion Polymerization

Abstract

Reversible addition–fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) emulsion polymerization is a powerful tool for polymer encapsulation of pigment nanohybrids. Conventional RAFT emulsion polymers, however, contain sulfur residues that contribute to undesired odor and deleterious effects on final materials. Our strategy relies on an amphiphilic macromonomer poly(methacrylic acid-co-methyl methacrylate) P(MAA-co-MMA) with an ω-unsaturated end group synthesized in situ via cobalt(II)-mediated catalytic chain transfer polymerization (CCTP) at the surface of C.I. Pigment Blue 15:3 (PB) particles. Subsequently, these macromonomers are used as the living points to mediate the in situ sulfur-free RAFT (SF-RAFT) emulsion polymerization of monomers (butyl methacrylate (BMA) and butyl acrylate (BA)). It was found that a well-controlled polymerization process was achieved by semibatch SF-RAFT emulsion polymerization on the PB surface, as evidenced by the smooth increase in the molecular weight of polymer chains as the polymerization progressed and by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) results. Due to the sealing effect, these polymer/PB hybrid particles exhibited excellent colloidal stability in the aqueous phase. More importantly, film-forming hybrid particles with a soft P(BMA-co-BA) shell were successfully prepared in this work, which suggested that SF-RAFT-mediated polymerization may offer a useful alternative approach to traditional RAFT emulsion polymers for the preparation of organic/inorganic nanohybrids.