Synthesis of Photocatalytic Niobate Nanosheet/Polymer Composite Microgel Particles through Microfluidic Approach

Yu Meng Ye,Nobuyoshi Miyamoto,Wen Qi Yang,Masahiro Takinoue,Masanari Nishi

doi:10.4028/www.scientific.net/kem.804.75

Abstract

Polydimethylacrylamide (PDMA) microgels and niobate nanosheet/PDMA composite microgels were fabricated by using a microfluidic device. Morphologies and sizes of the composite microgels were tuned by adjusting synthetic conditions such as viscosity of oil phases, hydrophilicity and concentration of surfactants, and flow rates of oil phase and water phase. Furthermore, it was found that the dispersion of nanosheets was better when the composite microgels were synthesized by photopolymerization compared to redox polymerization.

Highlights

Microgels are micrometer-sized hydrogel particles containing a cross-linked polymer network [1] that are swollen by solvent, usually water
Using oil phase containing 5 wt % Span 80 and 1 wt % TEMED in mineral oil, the microgel sample prepared at flow rates of 120 μL min-1 of the oil phase and 20 μL min-1 of the water phase is marked as Blank Gel
At the intersection of two phases, owing to the shear stress of oil phase acting on the water phase as well as emulsification of surfactants in the oil phase, the water phase was dispersed as a microscale water-in-oil droplet, in which the monomer, cross-linker and initiator are contained

Summary

Introduction

Microgels are micrometer-sized hydrogel particles containing a cross-linked polymer network [1] that are swollen by solvent, usually water. Because microfluidic synthesis is affected by many factors such as viscosity of the oil and water phases, application of this method to the anisotropic colloidal system of nanosheets was not straightforward.

Results

Conclusion