Surface initiated ATRP in the synthesis of iron oxide/polystyrene core/shell nanoparticles

A method to prepare magnetic nanoparticles with a covalently bonded polystyrene shell by surface initiated atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) was reported. First, the initiator for ATRP was covalently bonded onto the surface of magnetic nanoparticles through our novel method, which was the combination of ligand exchange reaction and condensation of triethoxysilane having an ATRP initiating site, 2-bromo-2-methyl-N-(3-(triethoxysilyl)propyl) propanamide. Then the surface initiated ATRP of styrene mediated by a copper complex was carried out and exhibited the characteristics of a controlled/“living” polymerization. The as-synthesized nanoparticles were coated with well-defined PS of a target molecular weight up to 45 K. These hybrid nanoparticles had an exceptionally good dispersibility in organic solvents and were subjected to detailed characterization using DLS, GPC, FTIR, XPS, UV–vis, TEM and TGA.