Preparation and characterization of optically functional hollow sphere hybrid materials by surface-initiated RATRP and “click” chemistry

Abstract

Abstract The random copolymers grafted onto the surfaces of SiO2 hollow sphere via reverse atom transfer radical polymerization (RATRP) and “click” chemistry were investigated. A sufficient amount of peroxides, as initiating moieties, were introduced onto the surface of hollow spheres. Then styrene and 4-vinylbenzyl azide were polymerized via surface-initiated reverse atom transfer radical polymerization (SI-RATRP) using the peroxide group modified hollow sphere as initiator, resulting in hollow spheres (HS) with grafted polystyrene-co-poly(4-vinylbenzyl azide) copolymer brushes as (HS-g-PS-co-PVBA) intermediate material. Subsequently, N-propargyl-carbazole (PC) was covalently bonded to HS-g-PS-co-PVBA by the “click” reaction, resulting in the HS-g-PS-co-PVBPC hybrid material. The excitation spectrum is dominated by a broad band from 350 nm to 400 nm with the maximum peak at 362 nm, attributed to the characteristic absorption of the carbazole group of HS-g-PS-co-PVBPC hybrid material.