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Hydrophobic Monomers Recognize Microenvironments in Hydrogel Microspheres during Free‐Radical‐Seeded Emulsion Polymerization
Author(s) -
Watanabe Takumi,
Nishizawa Yuichiro,
Minato Haruka,
Song Chihong,
Murata Kazuyoshi,
Suzuki Daisuke
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
angewandte chemie
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1521-3757
pISSN - 0044-8249
DOI - 10.1002/ange.202003493
Subject(s) - nanocomposite , monomer , emulsion polymerization , polymerization , micrography , materials science , chemical engineering , radical polymerization , copolymer , polymer chemistry , polymer , emulsion , nanotechnology , scanning electron microscope , composite material , engineering
The three‐dimensional structure of nanocomposite microgels was precisely determined by cryo‐electron micrography. Several nanocomposite microgels that differ with respect to their nanocomposite structure, which were obtained from seeded emulsion polymerization in the presence of microgels, were used as model nanocomposite materials for cryo‐electron micrography. The obtained three‐dimensional segmentation images of these nanocomposite microgels provide important insights into the interactions between the hydrophobic monomers and the microgels, that is, hydrophobic styrene monomers recognize molecular‐scale differences in polarity within the microgels during the emulsion polymerization. This result led to the formation of unprecedented multi‐layered nanocomposite microgels, which promise substantial potential in colloidal applications.