Patchy Polymer Colloids with Tunable Anisotropy Dimensions

We present the synthesis of polymer colloids with continuously tunable anisotropy dimensions: patchiness, roughness, and branching. Our method makes use of controlled fusion of multiple protrusions on highly cross-linked polymer particles produced by seeded emulsion polymerization. Carefully changing the synthesis conditions, we can tune the number of protrusions, or branching, of the obtained particles from spheres with one to three patches to raspberry-like particles with multiple protrusions. In addition to that, roughness is generated on the seed particles by adsorption of secondary nucleated particles during synthesis. The size of the roughness relative to the smooth patches can be continuously tuned by the initiator, surfactant, and styrene concentrations. Seed colloids chemically different from the protrusions induce patches of different chemical nature. The underlying generality of the synthesis procedure allows for application to a variety of seed particle sizes and materials. We demonstrate the use of differently sized polyNIPAM (poly-N-isopropylacrylamide), as well as polystyrene and magnetite filled polyNIPAM seed particles, the latter giving rise to magnetically anisotropic colloids. The high yield together with the uniform, anisotropic shape make them interesting candidates for use as smart building blocks in self-assembling systems.