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Controlling the shell structure of hard core/hydrogel shell microspheres

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Abstract

Seeded precipitation polymerization is one of the most versatile techniques for the synthesis of solid core–hydrogel shell particles, and it is required to control the shell structure, which plays an important role in functionalization. In this study, the effect of the polymerization conditions, such as the monomer and cross-linker concentrations, on the structure of the shell layer was systematically investigated. A series of experiments revealed that the lack of cross-linking points at low monomer concentrations and the formation of secondary particles at high monomer concentrations hindered the introduction of shells onto the core particles. The dependence of the monomer concentration on the shell thickness was well described by a single-exponential equation, and thus, the required concentrations of monomer and cross-linker to prepare a target thickness/cross-linking density can be predicted. Moreover, the combination of seeded precipitation polymerization and the monomer feeding method allowed further control of the shell thickness.

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Funding

D.S. acknowledges the Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (A) (JSPS; 17H04892), the Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research (21K18999), and the Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research on Innovative Areas (21H00392) from the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology (MEXT). D.S. also acknowledges the CREST (JPMJCR21L2), Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate School of Textile Science & Technology, Shinshu University, 3-15-1 Tokida Ueda, Nagano, 386-8567, Japan

    Yuichiro Nishizawa, Kenshiro Honda & Daisuke Suzuki

  2. Research Initiative for Supra-Materials, Interdisciplinary Cluster for Cutting Edge Research, Shinshu University, 3-15-1 Tokida Ueda, Nagano, 386-8567, Japan

    Daisuke Suzuki

  3. Institut Für Physikalische Chemie I: Kolloide Und Nanooptik, Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf, 40225, Düsseldorf, Germany

    Matthias Karg

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  1. Yuichiro Nishizawa
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Correspondence to Daisuke Suzuki.

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Nishizawa, Y., Honda, K., Karg, M. et al. Controlling the shell structure of hard core/hydrogel shell microspheres. Colloid Polym Sci 300, 333–340 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00396-021-04934-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00396-021-04934-2

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