Preparation of silica/poly(tert-butylmethacrylate) core/shell nanocomposite latex particles

Nanocomposite latex particles, with a silica nanoparticle as core and crosslinked poly(tert-butylmethacrylate) as shell, were prepared in this work. Silica nanoparticles were first synthesized by a sol-gel process, and then modified by 3-(trimethoxysilyl) propyl methacrylate ( MPS) to graft C=C groups on their surfaces. The MPS-modified silica nanoparticles were characterized by elemental analysis, FTIR, and Si-29 NMR and C-13-NMR spectroscopy; the results showed that the C=C groups were successfully grafted on the surface of the silica nanoparticles and the grafted substance was mostly the oligomer formed by the hydrolysis and condensation reaction of MPS. Silica/ poly( tert-butylmethacrylate) core/shell nanocomposite latex particles were prepared via seed emulsion polymerization using the MPS-modified silica nanoparticle as seed, tert-butylmethacrylate as monomer and ethyleneglycol dimethacrylate as crosslinker. Their core/shell nanocomposite structure and chemical composition were characterized by means of TEM and FTIR, respectively, and the results indicated that silica/poly(tert-butylmethacrylate) core/shell nanocomposite latex particles were obtained.