Photoluminescent epoxy microspheres: preparation, surface functionalization via grafting polymerization and photophysical properties

In this contribution, we reported the preparation of photoluminescent epoxy microspheres. First, diglycidyl ether of tetraphenylethene DGETPE), a novel epoxy monomer bearing tetraphenylethene was synthesized and then it was incorporated into a commercial epoxy viz. diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A) to obtain the epoxy microspheres with sizes of 1-3 mu m via a phase-inverted reaction-induced phase separation approach. It was found that the epoxy microspheres were luminescent under UV light radiation. The surfaces of the photoluminescent epoxy microspheres were further functionalized with poly N-vinyl pyrrolidone) PVPy) with a grafting-from methodology via reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer/macromolecular design via the interchange of xanthate RAFT/MADIX) process. The PVPy-grafted epoxy microspheres can be well dispersed into aqueous solutions. The morphologies and photophysical properties of the epoxy microspheres were investigated by means of scanning electron microscopy, and UV-vis and fluorescence spectroscopy.