Silsesquioxane-cored miktoarm copolymer amphiphiles for fabrication of oxidation-responsive silica-encapsulated polysulfide microspheres

The configuration and amphipathicity of polymer templates are crucial in fabrication of hybrid microspheres via the self-assembling process. Here, a new star-like silsesquioxane-cored miktoarm copolymer (M−T8−P) with desired amphiphilicity was synthesized and sufficiently characterized by various methods. The hybrid amphipathic architectures endowed M−T8−P an attractive capability of stable encapsulation for oxidation-reponsive polysulfides (PSL) synthesized from sulfur and monoterpenes, and facilitated the formation of stable M−T8−P/PSL complex micelles, which further templated the construction of oxidation-active silica microspheres with micrometer dimensions through a simple one-pot sol–gel route. With the increasing of PSL/M−T8−P feed ratio, the size of microspheres and the content of PSL in the resulting microsphere were increased due to PSL droplets providing a soft-template for silica particles to build larger-sized silica microspheres with PSL cores, but the regularity of microspheres was decreased. The increased content of PSL and oxidation treatment could significantly enhanced adsorption capacity of hybrid microsphere for palladium (Ⅱ). On the basis of these promising results, the hybrid copolymer and microspheres might find the applications in water treatment and environmental protection.