Production of hollow polymeric microspheres by surface-confined living radical polymerization on silica templates

Uniform hollow polymer microspheres were prepared by coating silica microsphere templates with poly(benzyl methacrylate) using surface-initiated controlled/living radical polymerization and subsequently removing the core by chemical etching. Shell thickness was controlled by varying the polymerization time. Scanning electron microscopy was used to characterize the products and to demonstrate that the polymer microspheres were hollow. FTIR spectroscopy showed that the silica cores were completely removed by etching.