Monodisperse silica-polymer core-shell microspheres via surface grafting and emulsion polymerization

Full Paper: We describe a flexible method for preparing monodisperse silica-polystyrene core-shell microspheres. In this method, silica nanoparticles grafted with 3-(trimetfioxysilyl)propyl methacrylate (MPS) were employed as seeds in an emulsion polymerization. The thickness of the shells could be changed through varying the amount of the monomer. The monodispersity and diameters of the core-shell microspheres were found to depend on the size of the grafted silica nanoparticles and the concentration of emulsifier. In addition, we investigated the formation mechanism of the core-shell microspheres.