Flower‐Like Colloidal Particles through Precipitation Polymerization of Redox‐Responsive Liquid Crystals. (17th November 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Liu, Xiaohong; Moradi, Mohammad‐Amin; Bus, Tom; Debije, Michael G.; Bon, Stefan A. F.; Heuts, Johan P. A.; Schenning, Albert P. H. J.
• Is Part Of: Angewandte Chemie. Volume 133:Number 52(2021)
• Page Start: 27232
• Page End: 27236
• Publication Date: 2021-11-17
• Subjects: flower-like particles -- liquid crystal -- precipitation polymerization; Chemistry -- Periodicals; 540
• DOI: 10.1002/ange.202111521
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0044-8249

Abstract

Abstract: We report on the synthesis of monodisperse, flower‐like, liquid crystalline (LC) polymer particles by precipitation polymerization of a LC mixture consisting of benzoic acid‐functionalized acrylates and disulfide‐functionalized diacrylates. Introduction of a minor amount of redox‐responsive disulfide‐functionalized diacrylates (≤10 wt %) induced the formation of flower‐like shapes. The shape of the particles can be tuned from flower‐ to disk‐like to spherical by elevating the polymerization temperature. The solvent environment also has a pronounced effect on the particle size. Time‐resolved TEM reveals that the final particle morphology was formed in the early stages of the polymerization and that subsequent polymerization resulted in continued particle growth without affecting the morphology. Finally, the degradation of the particles under reducing conditions was much faster for flower‐like particles than for spherical particles, likely a result of their higher surface‐to‐volume ratio. Abstract : Flower‐like particles of a redox‐responsive liquid crystalline monomer mixture prepared by precipitation polymerization are reported. The influences of monomer composition, polymerization temperature, and solvent on the particle shape are investigated. The shapes formed in the early stage of polymerization remain unchanged. Under reducing conditions, the flower‐like particles are degraded much more rapidly than the spherical particles due to their higher surface‐to‐volume ratio.