Synthesis of Core‐Shell Particles of Polystyrene and Poly(methyl methacrylate) Using Emulsion Photopolymerization

Abstract

Abstract Summary: Submicron core‐shell particles of polystyrene (PS) and polystyrene‐co‐poly(methyl methacrylate) (PS‐ co ‐PMMA) coated with PMMA were obtained by emulsion photopolymerization. The seeds of PS or PS‐ co ‐PMMA were prepared by emulsion polymerization with or without emulsifier and a ratio of functional monomer and crosslinker (SVBS/EDGMA) in order to obtain different surfaces for the subsequent coating with PMMA. At each stage, the evolution of the average particle size were monitored by using photon correlation spectroscopy (DLS) and the final polymer particles was analyzed via transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The core‐shell morphology was identified as the increase of the average particle size in the second stage by DLS technique and by the direct observation by TEM of the differentiation between PS core and PMMA shell, and by the presence of two glass transition temperatures (T g ) as a consequence of the existence of two partially miscible phases.