Structured polymer nanoparticles

Abstract

This chapter is a brief overview of the preparation of multiphase polymer particles of colloidal dimensions, including core/shell polymer latexes, 'raspberry' and 'plum pudding' morphologies, hollow particles, and large multilaminar 'onion' particles. It can only serve as a indicator toward the vast amount of excellent work being done in this area and the many more focused reviews that have previously appeared. The focus of this chapter is on multiphase particles generated by the mechanisms of free-radical emulsion, dispersion, or suspension polymerization, and in particular on the thermodynamic and kinetic factors which lead a system of polymer phases to adopt one morphology over another. Other mechanisms for the generation of nanostructured polymer particles will be dealt with briefly.