Fast swelling strategy for flower-like micro-sized colloidal surfactants with controllable patches by regulating the Tg of seed particles

Abstract

Fast swelling strategies for constructing functional particle materials are currently being pursued. Herein, we report an efficient swelling procedure by regulating the glass transition temperature T_g of poly(glycidyl methacrylate) (PGMA) seed particles via copolymerization with n-butyl acrylate (nBA). Single-hole swollen seed particles are formed within 30 min. Moreover, diverse Janus-like monomer-swollen seed particles (MSSs) can also be obtained by adjusting the weight ratio of nBA, with a controlled swelling rate. Moreover, flower-like colloidal microparticles with tunable patches are fabricated after the polymerization of Janus MSSs. Miraculously, these flower-like microparticles are capable of being employed as colloidal surfactants to stabilize not only oil-in-water but also water-in-oil emulsions without any modification. More importantly, it further enriches the species of colloidal surfactants and promotes technological advance of fast swelling systems for constructing advanced functional materials on a large scale and at low cost.