Yang Jinggang, Guo Dongliang, Yang Liheng, Sun Rong, Xiao Peng
State Grid Jiangsu Electric Power Co., Ltd Research Institute Nanjing 211103 Jiangsu P. R. China
RSC Adv. 2025 May 14;15(20):15832-15841. doi: 10.1039/d5ra01101a. eCollection 2025 May 12.
Thermally responsive microspheres (TRMs) have received increasing attention due to their unique temperature-dependent expansion performance. In this work, the preparation of a non-toxic, environmentally friendly, and low-cost TRM was investigated using non-nitrile monomers in suspension-emulsion polymerization. Various TRMs were prepared with different dispersant and emulsifier concentrations, various core materials and polymerization times to study the thermal expansion behavior, thermal response and the mechanism of microsphere polymerization, respectively. The optimized conditions, involving nano-SiO as a dispersant, sodium dodecyl sulfate as an emulsifier, azobisisobutyronitrile as an initiator, as well as styrene, methyl acrylate, methacrylic acid, and methyl methacrylate at a certain mass ratio with a 16-hour reaction time at 65 °C, enabled the production of TRMs with stable spherical structures, high expansion ratios, and smooth, defect-free surfaces. This work provides a facile and environmentally friendly strategy for preparing TRM, which has the potential to be used in industrial applications.
热响应微球（TRMs）因其独特的温度依赖性膨胀性能而受到越来越多的关注。在这项工作中，研究了使用非腈类单体通过悬浮-乳液聚合制备无毒、环保且低成本的TRM。制备了各种具有不同分散剂和乳化剂浓度、各种核材料以及聚合时间的TRM，分别用于研究热膨胀行为、热响应以及微球聚合的机理。优化的条件包括使用纳米SiO作为分散剂、十二烷基硫酸钠作为乳化剂、偶氮二异丁腈作为引发剂，以及苯乙烯、丙烯酸甲酯、甲基丙烯酸和甲基丙烯酸甲酯按一定质量比，并在65℃下反应16小时，能够制备出具有稳定球形结构、高膨胀率且表面光滑无缺陷的TRM。这项工作为制备TRM提供了一种简便且环保的策略，具有在工业应用中的潜力。
