Formation of Silica/Poly(p‐dioxanone) Microspheres by Surface‐Initiated Polymerization

Abstract A polymeric film of a biodegradable poly(p‐dioxanone) was grown from 490 nm silica particles by monolayer formation via self‐assembly of hydroxy‐terminated triethoxysilane and subsequent surface‐initiated ring‐opening polymerization of p‐dioxanone. The resulting silica/poly(p‐dioxanone) hybrid particles were characterized by means of 1H NMR spectroscopy, IR spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, field‐emission scanning electron microscopy, and energy‐dispersive X‐ray spectroscopy. magnified image