Abstract
We develop a strategy for preparing water-based dispersions of polymer/TiO2 nanospheres that can be used to form composite materials applicable in various fields. The formed hybrid nanospheres are monodisperse and possess a hierarchical structure. It starts with the primary TiO2 nanoparticles of about 5 nm, which first assemble to nanoclusters of about 30 nm and then are integrated into monomer droplets. After emulsion polymerization, one obtains the water-based dispersions of polymer/TiO2 nanospheres. To achieve universal size, it is necessary to have treatments with intense turbulent shear generated in a microchannel device at different stages. In addition, a procedure combining synergistic actions of steric and anionic surfactants has been designed to warrant the colloidal stability of the process. Since the formed polymer/TiO2 nanospheres are stable aqueous dispersions, they can be easily mixed with TiO2-free polymeric nanoparticle dispersions to form new dispersions, where TiO2-containing nanospheres are homogeneously distributed in the dispersions at the nanoscale, thus leading to various applications. As an example, the proposed strategy has been applied to generate polystyrene/TiO2 nanospheres of about 100 nm in diameter.
Highlights
During the past decades, intensive studies have been focused on synthesis of hybrid nanomaterials that are composed of both inorganic and organic components [1,2,3,4,5]
Polymer/TiO2-based hybrid nanomaterials are one of the most common nanocomposites, which are widely applied in medicine [19,20,21,22], lithium batteries [23,24,25,26], UV-screening [27,28,29], sensors [30,31], and hybrid solar cell materials [32,33,34,35]
We have developed a procedure for preparing TiO2/polystyrene (PS) hybrid nanospheres, where the
Summary
Intensive studies have been focused on synthesis of hybrid nanomaterials that are composed of both inorganic and organic components [1,2,3,4,5]. Polymer/TiO2-based hybrid nanomaterials are one of the most common nanocomposites, which are widely applied in medicine [19,20,21,22], lithium batteries [23,24,25,26], UV-screening [27,28,29], sensors [30,31], and hybrid solar cell materials [32,33,34,35] For most of these applications, the TiO2 nanoparticles (NPs) are typically used as fillers, which have to be homogeneously dispersed in the polymer matrix. The concentration of the TiO2-containing NSs in the dispersion can be varied by changing the ratio of the two dispersions Such obtained water-based dispersions can be applied to form hybrid materials and devices through either drying or coating or (injection and extrusion) molding (after drying and forming powders) or rotomolding. Schematic diagram showing the preparation procedure of TiO2/PS nanosphere
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