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Interfacial Instability as Shaping Mechanism for Polystyrene Particles with Tunable Surface Texture
Author(s) -
vom Stein Helena,
Volkmer Dirk
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
advanced materials interfaces
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.671
H-Index - 65
ISSN - 2196-7350
DOI - 10.1002/admi.202100628
Subject(s) - materials science , polystyrene , wetting , particle (ecology) , emulsion , contact angle , chemical engineering , hysteresis , viscosity , composite material , texture (cosmology) , pickering emulsion , nanotechnology , chemical physics , nanoparticle , polymer , oceanography , physics , image (mathematics) , quantum mechanics , artificial intelligence , computer science , engineering , geology
Surfactant‐driven interfacial instability of emulsion droplets has recently emerged as a means for shaping polymeric particles with controllable surface texture. This paper presents a suspension polymerization‐based method to produce surface‐textured polystyrene particles by inducing an instability at the interface of prepolymerized emulsion droplets followed by rapid cooling. The interaction of two surface‐active components, i.e., arachidic acid and cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) at the phase boundary triggers the interfacial deformation at a specific point in time. Rapid cooling freezes the deformed emulsion droplets in a nonequilibrium state. Viscosity is proposed as the key parameter influencing the particle morphology, which can be controlled by easily adjustable factors such as initiator concentration, temperature, time, and cooling rate. Contact angle hysteresis measurements of particle thin layers spread on a flat substrate reveal a strong influence of the particle surface texture on the wetting behavior. The presented particle synthesis method requires no specialized equipment and has a high potential for upscaling, making it promising for various applications including hydrophobic coatings, catalyst supports, separation technology, tissue engineering, or drug delivery.