Size-controlled synthesis of polymer hollow nanoparticles using emulsion templates prepared by tandem acoustic emulsification

Miharu Koshino; Yukihide Shiraishi; Mahito Atobe

doi:10.1016/j.ultsonch.2019.01.032

Size-controlled synthesis of polymer hollow nanoparticles using emulsion templates prepared by tandem acoustic emulsification

Ultrason Sonochem. 2019 Jun:54:250-255. doi: 10.1016/j.ultsonch.2019.01.032. Epub 2019 Jan 24.

Authors

Miharu Koshino¹, Yukihide Shiraishi², Mahito Atobe³

Affiliations

¹ Graduate School of Environment and Information Sciences, Yokohama National University, Yokohama 240-8501, Japan.
² Graduate School of Science and Engineering, Yokohama National University, Yokohama 240-8501, Japan.
³ Graduate School of Environment and Information Sciences, Yokohama National University, Yokohama 240-8501, Japan; Graduate School of Science and Engineering, Yokohama National University, Yokohama 240-8501, Japan. Electronic address: atobe@ynu.ac.jp.

PMID: 30712860
DOI: 10.1016/j.ultsonch.2019.01.032

Abstract

We have developed a new emulsion template method for the synthesis of poly(methylmethacrylate) (PMMA) hollow nanoparticles with different sizes. This synthetic method involves sequential ultrasonic irradiation (20 kHz → 500 kHz → 1.6 MHz → 2.4 MHz → 5.0 MHz) for acoustic emulsification of a water-insoluble fluorous solvent such as perfluoromethylcyclohexane (PFMCH) in an aqueous medium, followed by monomer (methylmethacrylate (MMA)) adsorption on the surface of the PFMCH emulsion droplets and photopolymerization of the adsorbed MMA in the obtained emulsion solution. Since the size of the PFMCH droplet templates can be tuned according to the number of steps of tandem acoustic emulsification, the obtained PMMA particle size can also be controlled. The subsequent removal of the core fluorous solvent by the heat treatment yielded size-controlled PMMA hollow nanoparticles and monodisperse PMMA hollow nanoparticles of different sizes. Furthermore, we confirmed that the substances could go in or go out of the hollow particles through the shells. Such a nice permeability is important for applications such as nanoreactors and drug delivery systems.

Keywords: Polymer hollow nanoparticle; Size-controlled synthesis; Tandem acoustic emulsification.