PMSE 3 |
| Monodispese silica particles grafted with well-defined, concentrated poly(methyl methacrylate) brushes were synthesized by surface-initiated living radical polymerization. The monolayers of the hybrid particles were prepared by casting the particle solution on water surface. Transmission electron microscopic observations of the monolayers revealed that the particles formed a two-dimensional ordered array and that the interparticle distance increased with increasing graft chain length. The monolayer was used to fabricate a patterned surface of poly(dimethylsiloxane) elastomer. Furthermore, a suspension of the hybrids in a certain concentration range formed a colloidal crystal with an iridescent color. The colloidal crystal showed a sharp phase inversion into a fluid phase depending on the particle volume fraction. The critical particle volume fraction for the crystallization of the present system was intermediate between those of the conventional (soft and hard) colloidal crystals. The crystal structure was strongly dependent on the graft chain length. |
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Synthesis and Self-Assembly Approaches to Polymer-Inorganic Hybrid Nanoparticles
8:30 AM-12:05 PM, Sunday, April 6, 2008 Hilton New Orleans Riverside -- Grand Salon 24, Oral
Division of Polymeric Materials: Science & Engineering |