In situ synthesis of the Ag/poly(4-vinylpyridine)block-polystyrene composite nanoparticles by dispersion RAFT polymerization

Liu, H (Liu, Hui)^[ 1 ] ; Ding, MD (Ding, Mingdu)^[ 1 ] ; Ding, ZL (Ding, Zhonglin)^[ 1 ] ; Gao, CQ (Gao, Chengqiang)^[ 1 ] ; Zhang, WQ (Zhang, Wangqing)^[ 1,2 ]

POLYMER CHEMISTRY, 2017, 8(20): 3203-3210

DOI: 10.1039/c7py00473g

 WOS:000401948300017

Abstract

Metal/block-copolymer composite nanoparticles have been attracting considerable interest and are usually prepared by incorporating metal nanoparticles or metal ions into pre-prepared block copolymer nanoparticles. Herein, a new method of one-pot synthesis of the colloid-like metal/block-copolymer nanocomposites of poly(4-vinylpyridine)-block-polystyrene (P4VP-b-PS) and Ag nanoparticles by dispersion RAFT polymerization is proposed. This method employs the chelate polymer of poly(4-vinylpyridine) trithiocarbonate (P4VP-TTC) as both a macro-RAFT agent for dispersion RAFT polymerization and a stabilizer for Ag nanoparticles, and it affords a convenient synthesis of the Ag/P4VP-b-PS composite nanoparticles. Ag nanoparticles are uniformly embedded in the P4VP-b-PS nanoparticles to result into Ag/P4VP-b-PS composited nanoparticles. It is found that the size of the Ag/P4VP-b-PS composite nanoparticles increases either with the degree of polymerization of the polystyrene block or with the Ag fraction in the nanocomposites. This dispersion RAFT polymerization in the presence of a macro-RAFT agent stabilized metal nanoparticles is believed to be an efficient method to synthesize concentrated metal/block-copolymer nanocomposites.