Ag/Polystyrene Hollow Microspheres from Surface-Functional Colloidal Particles via Double In Situ Miniemulsion Polymerization

Polystyrene (PS) hollow microspheres with carboxyl and nitrile functional groups were prepared via double in situ miniemulsion polymerization. Ag nanoparticles were deposited onto the surface of functional PS hollow microspheres to obtain Ag/PS hollow microspheres. The as-prepared microspheres were characterized by laser particle size analyzer, Fourier transform infrared spectrometer (FTIR), UV-vis spectrophotometer, X-ray diffraction (XRD), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM), respectively. The results showed that hybrid microspheres with hollow structure weres mainly in the range of 150-300 nm in diameter, which were uniformly decorated on the surfaces by silver nanoparticles of narrow size distribution. The successful preparation of Ag/PS hollow microspheres is due to the combination of electrostatic interaction (Ag+ ions/carboxyl groups) and the high affinity (nitrile groups/silver).