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Sol–gel process of alkoxysilane in emulsifier‐involved aqueous emulsions: A one‐pot synthetic route to emulsions of core‐shell composite particles and their applications
Author(s) -
Niu Lin,
Xia Zhengbin,
Lei Liang,
Zhang Yanhong,
Zhong Li
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
journal of applied polymer science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.575
H-Index - 166
eISSN - 1097-4628
pISSN - 0021-8995
DOI - 10.1002/app.38660
Subject(s) - materials science , composite number , emulsion polymerization , polymer , emulsion , chemical engineering , cationic polymerization , sol gel , aqueous solution , polymerization , coating , polymer chemistry , composite material , nanotechnology , organic chemistry , chemistry , engineering
Abstract In this work, a one‐pot route to prepare emulsions of silica/polymer core‐shell composite particles was developed through the direct sol–gel processing of alkoxysilane on the surface of newly synthesized template polymer particles in emulsifier‐involved aqueous emulsions. It included two continuous steps: first, the polymer emulsions were synthesized through emulsion polymerization, and second, the template particles in the emulsions were directly coated with silica via sol–gel reaction of precursors without adding ethanol or removing emulsifiers. The size and morphology of the composite particles were characterized, and the results showed that the silica/polymer composite particles with core‐shell structure could be prepared only on the basis of cationic template emulsions, and the in situ ‐coating reaction of sol–gel precursors carried on easier with the increasing of the positive charge density on the surface of template particles. The films formed from the composite emulsions were found to have superior optical and flame‐retardant properties compared to polymer films, owing to the core‐shell composite microstructure of the particles. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci., 2013