Hybrid nanostructured particles via surfactant-free double miniemulsion polymerization

Nature Communications
Yongliang ZhaoMartin Möller

Abstract

Double emulsions are complex fluid systems, in which droplets of a dispersed liquid phase contain even smaller dispersed liquid droplets. Particularly, water-in-oil-in-water double emulsions provide significant advantages over simple oil-in-water emulsions for microencapsulation, such as carrier of both aqueous and oily payloads and sustained release profile. However, double emulsions are thermodynamically unstable systems consisting typically of relatively large droplets. Here we show that nanoscale water-in-oil-in-water double emulsions can be prepared by adding a silica precursor polymer, hyperbranched polyethoxysiloxane, to the oil phase without any additional surfactants. The resulting double miniemulsions are transformed to robust water@SiO2@polymer@SiO2 nanocapsules via conversion of the precursor to silica and polymerization of the oil phase. Other intriguing nanostructures like nanorattles and Janus-like nanomushrooms can also be obtained by changing preparation conditions. This simple surfactant-free double miniemulsion polymerization technique opens a promising avenue for mass production of various complex hybrid nanostructures that are amenable to numerous applications.

References

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Citations

Feb 29, 2020·Science Advances·An LiYanlin Song
Aug 11, 2019·Langmuir : the ACS Journal of Surfaces and Colloids·Quanyi YinLimin Wu
Aug 11, 2018·Langmuir : the ACS Journal of Surfaces and Colloids·Zhi ChenMartin Möller
Oct 16, 2020·Langmuir : the ACS Journal of Surfaces and Colloids·Lei TianYufeng Wang
Aug 9, 2018·Langmuir : the ACS Journal of Surfaces and Colloids·Shuhua TuHaitao Wang
Oct 31, 2020·The Journal of Physical Chemistry. B·Gunwoo KimSungho Jin

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Methods Mentioned

BETA
dynamic light scattering
scanning
transmission electron microscopy
electron microscopy
light scattering
scanning electron microscopy
infrared spectroscopy

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