Design of Colored Multilayered Electrophoretic Particles for Electronic Inks

The preparation of multilayered latex particles with surface functional groups suitable for use as electrophoretic particles in electronic inks has been studied. The particles are formed by dispersion polymerization and have a polystyrene core, slightly cross-linked with divinylbenzene (DVB), and a poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) or a poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) shell. After grafting alkyl chains on their surface, the particles are negatively or positively charged and sterically stabilized against aggregation in nonpolar solvent. The particles were dyed by incorporation of Nigrosin during polymerization or by swelling in supercritical CO(2) in the presence of a dye. Particle size, morphology, incorporated dye content and zeta potential were determined. A dual-particle electronic ink based on a mixture of the colored multilayered particles and white hybrid TiO(2)-polymer particles was prepared and electro-optically tested.