One-step facile synthesis of monodisperse raspberry-like P(S–MPS–AA) colloidal particles

This paper presents a one-step procedure for the facile synthesis of monodisperse raspberry-like polymer colloidal particles by soap-free emulsion polymerization of styrene (S), acrylic acid (AA), and 3-(trimethoxysilyl)propyl methacrylate (MPS). In this method, when S, AA, and MPS are mixed with water and stirred at a certain temperature, raspberry-like P(S–MPS–AA) colloidal particles with uniform shapes and sizes could be obtained in a reliable manner. Both the core particles and the smaller corona particles of core surfaces were formed in situ. A mechanism of formation based on the second nucleation induced by MPS-enriched segments on the core surfaces is proposed.