Preparation of double-responsive SiO2-g-PDMAEMA nanoparticles via ATRP

Organic/inorganic hybrid materials have both the advantages of organic polymers and inorganic materials, and now have become a new hotspot in material science. We choose Poly((2-Dimethylamino)ethyl methacrylate) (PDMAEMA), which was grafted from the surface of silica nanoparticles via atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) to form pH and temperature stimuli-responsive hybrid nanoparticles. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) was used to estimate the content of linked organic compound, and transmission electron micrographs (TEM) was used to observe the shell-core structure of hybrid nanoparticles. Double stimuli-response was characterized with ZetaPALS Zeta Potential Analyzer. The results showed that the hybrid nanoparticles were successfully synthesized and had the expected double stimuli-response. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.