Hybrid raspberry microgels with tunable thermoresponsive behavior

We report the synthesis of thermosensitive raspberry-like hybrid microgels. They consist of a poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) core decorated with in situ formed silica particles. A linking silane agent was copolymerized to help the anchoring of silica particles formed by a controlled silica precursor addition onto the outer shell. The thermosensitive behaviour is tuneable by adjusting the size of the silica particles.