Chemistry of Materials
Chemistry of Materials
5 years ago

CO2-Responsive Polymer Single-Chain Nanoparticles and Self-Assembly for Gas-Tunable Nanoreactors

CO2-Responsive Polymer Single-Chain Nanoparticles and Self-Assembly for Gas-Tunable Nanoreactors
Bing Yu, Farhad Farnia, Xia Tong, Yue Zhao, Weizheng Fan
CO2-responsive polymer single-chain nanoparticles (SCNPs) and self-assembled micellar aggregates are investigated as gas-controlled, rate- and size-tunable nanoreactors of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs). On one hand, SCNPs are prepared from a random copolymer of poly{(N,N-dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate)-co-4-methyl-[7-(methacryloyl)oxy-ethyl-oxy]coumarin} (P(DMAEMA-co-CMA)). When dispersed in aqueous solution, individual nanoparticles can undergo reversible swelling/shrinking under alternating CO2/N2 stimulation as a result of the reversible protonation/deprotonation of tertiary amine groups. On the other hand, tadpole-like single-chain “Janus” nanoparticles (SCJNPs) are prepared using an amphiphilic diblock copolymer of PS-b-P(DMAEMA-co-CMA) (PS is hydrophobic polystyrene). This type of SCJNPs can self-assemble into core–shell micellar aggregates in aqueous solution. Under CO2/N2 stimulation, the collective swelling/shrinking of SCJNPs within the micelle results in large, reversible volume change. Both P(DMAEMA-co-CMA) SCNPs and PS-b-P(DMAEMA-co-CMA) SCJNP micelles are explored as gas-tunable nanoreactors for AuNPs. The rate of AuNP formation increases under CO2 stimulation and decreases upon N2 bubbling, which makes it possible to tune the reaction rate up and down (on/off switching) by using the two gases. Moreover, using the micelles of SCJNPs, whose volume can be controlled over a wide range by adjusting the CO2 stimulation strength, variable-size AuNPs and their aggregates are obtained with continuous redshift of the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) into the long-wavelength visible light region.

Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acs.chemmater.7b01656

DOI: 10.1021/acs.chemmater.7b01656

You might also like
Discover & Discuss Important Research

Keeping up-to-date with research can feel impossible, with papers being published faster than you'll ever be able to read them. That's where Researcher comes in: we're simplifying discovery and making important discussions happen. With over 19,000 sources, including peer-reviewed journals, preprints, blogs, universities, podcasts and Live events across 10 research areas, you'll never miss what's important to you. It's like social media, but better. Oh, and we should mention - it's free.

  • Download from Google Play
  • Download from App Store
  • Download from AppInChina

Researcher displays publicly available abstracts and doesn’t host any full article content. If the content is open access, we will direct clicks from the abstracts to the publisher website and display the PDF copy on our platform. Clicks to view the full text will be directed to the publisher website, where only users with subscriptions or access through their institution are able to view the full article.