Preparation of Ag/PS composite particles by dispersion polymerization under ultrasonic irradiation

In this paper, the Ag/PS composite particles were prepared and characterized according to the following steps. First, the nano-silver particles were pretreated with the surfactants under ultrasonic irradiation. Second, the dispersion polymerization of styrene in a water-ethanol (1/6 wt/wt) medium, with poly(N-vinyl pyrrolidone) (PVP) as stabilizer and 2,2'-azobisizobutyronitrile (AIBN) as initiator in the presence of nano-silver particles was initiated with N-2 purging through ultrasonic irradiation by taking its advantages of the combined effects of dispersion, crushing, activation, and initiation. Finally, the polymerization dynamics characteristic was studied, and the encapsulation of composite particles were investigated by SEM, FTIR, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and X-ray diffraction patterns (XRD). (C) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.