Synthesis of Monodisperse Polymer Microspheres with Mercapto Groups and Their Application as a Stabilizer for Gold Metallic Colloid

Abstract

Summary: Monodisperse polymer microspheres with functional mercapto groups on the surface were prepared from poly[(ethylene glycol dimethacrylate)‐co‐(2‐hydroxyethyl methacrylate)], poly(EGDMA‐co‐HEMA), microspheres successively through esterification of the active hydroxyl groups with acryloyl chloride to introduce carbon‐carbon double bonds and then the addition reaction of hydrogen sulfide to the double bond at pH 10–11. All of the polymer microspheres were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and FT‐IR spectra. The mercapto‐functionalized polymer microspheres were utilized as a stabilizer for gold metallic colloids through coordination of the mercapto group on the polymer with gold metallic nanoparticles, which were prepared by the reduction of gold chloride trihydrate with sodium borohydride as the reductant. The size and morphology of the gold on the microspheres were determined to be of narrow dispersity (in the range 4–8 nm) by transmission electron microscopy (TEM).Preparation of mercapto‐modified polymer microspheres and their application as a stabilizer for gold metallic colloids.magnified imagePreparation of mercapto‐modified polymer microspheres and their application as a stabilizer for gold metallic colloids.

Catalytic properties of carboxylic acid functionalized-polymer microsphere-stabilized gold metallic colloids

“…The results indicate that the number average size was around 10.0 nm and the size distribution of Au nanoparticles was narrow, with a polydispersity index of around 1.07. These values varied slightly with COOH:Au ratios in the range from 75:1 to 20:1, which was quite similar to those of the mercapto-group-functionalized polymermicrosphere-stabilized gold nanoparticles [6]. The average size of the carboxylic-acid-functionalized microsphere-stabilized gold nanocolloids (10.0 nm) in the present work was a little larger than that of the mercapto-stabilized gold particles (5.0 nm) in our previous paper, which may be due to the weaker interaction of carboxylic acid groups and Au than of mercapto groups and Au.…”

“…Recently, monodisperse crosslinked polymer microspheres have found wide applications in the fields of chromatography, controlled reservoirs, and carriers, as well as being supports in the biomedical, environmental, and catalytic fields, and also in the electronics and chemical industries [1][2][3][4][5][6]. Functional polymer microspheres with carbonyl, hydroxyl, and amino groups on their surfaces have been used to covalently bind antibodies and other proteins onto microspheres [7,8].…”

“…However, the weak mechanical stability and decomposition of the microsphere in solvent are problems encountered during the further application of these materials. In our previous paper, we reported the preparation of gold nanoparticles on polymer microspheres through the coordination of the mercapto group with gold colloids [6]. However, the catalytic activity was significantly decreased due to the strong interaction between the mercapto group and metallic particles [21].…”

Size-controlled gold nanocolloids on polymer microsphere-stabilizer via interaction between functional groups and gold nanocolloids

“…In our previous work, polymer microspheres as support for metallic catalyst are studied due to the possibility of controlling the morphology and functionality of the microsphere in a simple way as well as the metal concentration and distribution of the gold nanocolloids with the ease of recovery of the catalyst by simple filtration [21,22]. In nanometallic colloid field, the true control of particle size remains the most attractive goal for the synthetic chemist [23].…”

Effect of co-initiator on the size distribution of the stable poly(styrene-co-divinylbenzene) microspheres in acetone/water mixture

“…1 These unique strengths enable them to be used to variety of applications such as surface coatings, printing and pharmaceutical industries, bio-medical devices, supporting phases for separation science, sensors, controlled release reservoirs and supports for metallic nano-colloids. [2][3][4][5][6] In order to be applicable in the above area, the size control and narrow size distribution are the major concern. 7 Various techniques including emulsion, dispersion and suspension polymerization were proposed to prepare the crosslinked submicron and micron-sized spherical particles.…”