A novel experimental setup to measure the diffusion and the concentration of light-absorbing molecules in particles of polymer dispersions is described. This method allows for instance quantification of the diffusion of hydrophobic reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) agents from the monomer phase into the polymer particles during ab initio emulsion polymerization. The results clearly show that the diffusion of the RAFT agents strongly depends on their water solubility. This explains their influence on the kinetics of RAFT aqueous heterophase polymerization. Moreover, the retaining or the loss of the color of the RAFT agents after addition of different initiators recorded by this method gives direct experimental evidence that primary initiator radicals enter polymer particles.

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Summary: The paper considers various possibilities to produce inorganic -polymeric nanocomposites via aqueous heterophase polymerization. Special emphasis is placed on strategies to synthesize nanocomposite particles via joint nucleation or joint polymerization. The former strategy is used to make composite particles with CaCO 3 as inorganic component. The strategy of joint polymerization takes advantage from the condition that aqueous heterophase polymerization is a convenient possibility to synthesize amphiphilic block copolymers. This method relies on the fact that polymeric radicals can survive in isolated latex particles that are stabilized by hydrophilic blocks. This strategy can be successfully applied to produce silicacontaining block copolymer particles in a one-step procedure.