The synthesis of temperature-sensitive PMMA-coating PNIPAM particles via a rapid microwave-assisted polymerization

PMMA-coating PNIPAM particles were prepared via a rapid microwave-assisted polymerization. The PMMA shell was found to have a limitation on the movement of PNIPAM chains, which resulted in a reversible swelling and shrinking. The swelling-shrinking processes of particles were traced by laser light scattering, and the swelling factor of particles was found to be 1.63 with an average radius of 83.4 nm in the swelling state and of 70.8 nm in the shrinking state. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.