TY - JOUR A1 - Zou, Hua A1 - Schlaad, Helmut T1 - Thermoresponsive PNIPAM/Silica Nanoparticles by Direct Photopolymerization in Aqueous Media JF - Journal of polymer science : A, Polymer chemistry N2 - This article presents a simple and facile method to fabricate thermoresponsive polymer-grafted silica particles by direct surface-initiated photopolymerization of N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPAM). This method is based on silica particles bearing thiol functionalities, which are transformed into thiyl radicals by irradiation with UV light to initiate the polymerization of NIPAM in aqueous media at room temperature. The photopolymerization of NIPAM could be applied to smaller thiol-functionalized particles (approximate to 48 nm) as well as to larger particles (approximate to 692 nm). Hollow poly(NIPAM) capsules could be formed after etching away the silica cores from the composite particles. It is possible to produce tailor-made composite particles or capsules for particular applications by extending this approach to other vinyl monomers. (c) 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 2015, 53, 1260-1267 KW - nanocomposites KW - nanoparticles KW - photopolymerization KW - silica nanoparticles KW - surface-initiated photopolymerization KW - thermoresponsive KW - thiol Y1 - 2015 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1002/pola.27593 SN - 0887-624X SN - 1099-0518 VL - 53 IS - 10 SP - 1260 EP - 1267 PB - Wiley-Blackwell CY - Hoboken ER -