Zhang Mengmeng, Hou Zaiyan, Wang Huiying, Zhang Lianbin, Xu Jiangping, Zhu Jintao
State Key Lab of Materials Processing and Die & Mould Technology and Key Lab of Materials Chemistry for Energy Conversion & Storage (HUST) of Ministry of Education, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST), Wuhan 430074, China.
Langmuir. 2021 Jan 12;37(1):454-460. doi: 10.1021/acs.langmuir.0c03099. Epub 2020 Dec 29.
Block copolymer microparticles with controllable morphology have drawn widespread attention owing to their promising applications in photonic materials, energy storage, and other areas. Hence, it is highly desired to achieve a controllable transformation of microparticle morphology. In this work, we report a simple method to shape the morphology of polystyrene--poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PS--PDMS) microparticles, by employing core-cross-linked polymeric nanoparticles (CNPs) as cosurfactants which are synthesized through cross-linking P4VP segment of PS--poly(4-vinylpyridine) (PS--P4VP). The addition of pH-responsive CNPs makes the shape of pH-inert PS--PDMS microparticles sensitive to pH value. The PS--PDMS microparticles transformed from elongated Janus pupa-like particles to onion-like particles by decreasing the pH value of the aqueous phase. The deformation mechanism is investigated by changing pH value, the weight fraction of CNPs, and surfactant property. This study provides a facile strategy to deform microparticles of pH-inert BCPs by tuning pH value, which is anticipated to be applicable to other non-pH-responsive BCP microparticles.
具有可控形态的嵌段共聚物微粒因其在光子材料、能量存储及其他领域的广阔应用前景而备受关注。因此，实现微粒形态的可控转变具有很高的需求。在这项工作中，我们报道了一种塑造聚苯乙烯-聚（二甲基硅氧烷）（PS-PDMS）微粒形态的简单方法，即通过使用核交联聚合物纳米粒子（CNPs）作为共表面活性剂，这些纳米粒子是通过交联PS-聚（4-乙烯基吡啶）（PS-P4VP）的P4VP链段合成的。pH响应性CNPs的加入使pH惰性的PS-PDMS微粒的形状对pH值敏感。通过降低水相的pH值，PS-PDMS微粒从细长的类雅努斯蛹状颗粒转变为洋葱状颗粒。通过改变pH值、CNPs的重量分数和表面活性剂性质来研究变形机制。本研究提供了一种通过调节pH值使pH惰性的BCP微粒变形的简便策略，预计该策略可应用于其他非pH响应性的BCP微粒。
