Aerosol Process for the In Situ Coating of Nanoparticles with a Polymer Shell

<!-- START_ABSTRACT --> <p> This article presents a novel method to encapsulate gas-borne nanoparticles with a polymeric shell. This method implies heterogeneous condensation of monomer vapor around the surface of nanoparticles as nuclei and polymerization is then subsequently started by addition of NH3 as aerosol initiator. Ag and SiO2 nanoparticles were generated as inorganic core by spark discharge and nebulization, respectively, and glycidyl methacrylate (GMA) was used as organic monomer. The effect of several parameters, including vapor pressure of monomer and properties of inorganic core such as morphology, material, particle size, and production method on the thickness of polymeric shell and morphology of resulting nanocomposites has been investigated. The particle size distribution and morphology of the resulting core-shell nanoparticles have been studied via scanning mobility particle sizer (SMPS) and transmission electron microscope (TEM). Finally, the coating efficiency was determined by aerosol photoemission (APE) and the results show that monomer and polymer coating efficiency are 99% and 60%, respectively. Copyright 2014 American Association for Aerosol Research </p> <!-- END_ABSTRACT --> <!-- START_TEMPLATE --> <ul> <li> Source: </li> <li> Tags: </li> </ul> <!-- END_TEMPLATE -->