Macromolecules, Vol.53, No.24, 11027-11032, 2020
Formation of Colloidal Superstructures of Disc-like Particles Utilizing Hydrogen Bonding Interactions between Steric Stabilizers
The colloidal structure without a template was demonstrated using disc-like polystyrene (PS) particles, which had the colloidal stabilizer only on the lateral side of the discs. Disc-like PS particles stabilized by polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) (PSPVP) or polyacrylic acid (PAA) (PSPAA) were prepared as follows: seeded dispersion polymerization of 2-ethylhexyl methacrylate (EHMA) was conducted in the presence of decane droplets with spherical PSPVP or PSPAA particles as seeds. The obtained composite polymer particles after the seeded dispersion polymerization had hamburgerlike morphology in which the disc-like PS phase sandwiched between the poly(2-ethylhexyl methacrylate) (PEHMA)/decane phases. After the extraction of the PEHMA/decane phase from the composite particles with 1-butanol, the PS particles exhibiting disc-like shapes were obtained. It was found that the stabilizers, that is, PVP (hydrogen bond acceptor) and PAA (hydrogen bond donor), existed only on the lateral side of the disc-like PS particles. Mixing of two kinds of disc-like PS particles stabilized by PVP and PAA resulted in the formation of a two-dimensional colloidal structure (connecting each lateral side of disc-like particles) by hydrogen bonding interaction in the absence of a template. It was determined that hydrogen bonding interactions between PVP and PAA played a key role in the process.