A modified method based on in situ chemical reduction was developed to prepare mono-dispersed polystyrene/silver (PS/Ag) composite microspheres. In this approach; mono-dispersed PS microspheres were synthesized through dispersion polymerization using poly-vinylpyrrolidone (PVP) as a dispersant at first. Then, poly-dopamine (PDA) was fabricated to functionally modify the surfaces of PS microspheres. With the addition of [Ag(NH₃)₂]⁺ to the PS dispersion, [Ag(NH₃)₂]⁺ complex ions were absorbed and reduced to silver nanoparticles on the surfaces of PS-PDA microspheres to form PS/Ag composite microspheres. PVP acted both as a solvent of the metallic precursor and as a reducing agent. PDA also acted both as a chemical protocol to immobilize the silver nanoparticles at the PS surface and as a reducing agent. Therefore, no additional reducing agents were needed. The resulting composite microspheres were characterized by TEM, field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), XRD, UV-Vis and surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS). The results showed that Ag nanoparticles (NPs) were homogeneously immobilized onto the PS microspheres' surface in the presence of PDA and PVP. PS/Ag composite microspheres were well formed with a uniform and compact shell layer and were adjustable in terms of their optical property.
Keywords: PS/Ag composite; PVP; dopamine; hollow microsphere; silver nanoparticle.