Construction of polymer brush-decorated amphiphilic Janus graphene oxide nanosheets via a Pickering emulsion template for catalytic applications

Abstract

In this article, we describe a facile approach for the preparation of amphiphilic Janus 2D graphene oxide (GO) nanosheets with catalytic properties by combining Pickering emulsion templates and surface-anchoring polymer brushes synthesized by reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization. Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide)-GO-poly(vinylbenzyltrimethylammonium chloride-co-styrene)@Pd(PNIPAM-GO-P(VBTAC-co-St)@Pd) and Janus polystyrene-GO-poly(N-isopropylacrylamide-co-5-(2-methacryloyl-ethyloxymethyl)-8-quinolinol)@Pd (PSt-GO-P(NIPAM-co-MQ)@Pd) Janus nanosheets were prepared, and the chemical structure, morphology, temperature sensitivity, thermal stability, and catalytic properties of Janus nanohybrid materials were characterized. The as-prepared Janus nanosheets exhibit excellent homogeneous catalysis and interfacial catalysis performance due to the synergistic effect of different components and display good reusability. This work not only provides a convenient method for the preparation of amphiphilic Janus nanosheets, but also establishes a bridge between the Janus structure and the polymer for bonding and application.