Abstract
Previous investigations have identified the correlation between synthetic conditions and soft nanoparticle morphology, including their molecular weight, internal crosslinked structure, total nanoparticle radius, and topology, or degree of "fuzziness" of each nanoparticle. To provide further insight to these guidelines, we examine the effect of surfactant concentration and monomer water solubility on the topology, size, and polydispersity of soft poly(butyl acrylate) nanoparticles. Small-angle neutron scattering studies confirm that increased monomer water solubility and polymer chain flexibility decreases the control of nanoparticle topology and size in a nano-emulsion polymerization. Further studies document the morphological change of polystyrene soft nanoparticles with a decrease in solvent quality. Small-angle neutron scattering was also used to characterize dilute solutions of soft polystyrene nanoparticles in a good and theta solvent, including the analysis of their internal structure. When the soft nanoparticles are dispersed in a thermodynamically good solvent they exhibit a swollen morphology, however, when dispersed in a theta solvent, the nanoparticle core contracts due to unfavorable thermodynamic interactions. Moreover, the structure of soft nanoparticles in a theta solvent provides insight that will guide the interpretation of the behavior of soft nanoparticles dispersed into a bulk polymer matrix.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Gels and Other Soft Amorphous Solids |
| Editors | Emanuela Del Gado, Ferenc Horkay, Jack F. Douglas |
| Publisher | American Chemical Society |
| Pages | 117-137 |
| Number of pages | 21 |
| ISBN (Print) | 9780841233164 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 2018 |
Publication series
| Name | ACS Symposium Series |
|---|---|
| Volume | 1296 |
| ISSN (Print) | 0097-6156 |
| ISSN (Electronic) | 1947-5918 |
Funding
This research was supported by the Department of Energy, Basic Energy Sciences, Materials Sciences and Engineering Division. A portion of this research was also completed at ORNL’s High Flux Isotope Reactor, which was sponsored by the Scientific User Facilities Division, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, US Department of Energy. We acknowledge the support of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, U.S. Department of Commerce, in providing neutron research facilities used in this work. A portion of this research was also conducted at the Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences at ORNL, which is a DOE Office of Science User Facility. We thank Dr. Shiwang Cheng for fruitful discussions.