Novel method for the preparation of core–shell nanoparticles with movable Ag core and polystyrene loop shell

Core/shell nanoparticles with movable silver (Ag) core and polystyrene (PSt) shell (Ag@PSt nanoparticle) were successfully synthesized at room temperature and under ambient pressure via two steps: γ-irradiation and interfacial-initiated polymerization. Firstly, mono-dispersed Ag nanoparticles with diameters 20 nm were synthesized in inversed microemulsion by reducing silver nitrate under γ-irradiation. Then, Ag nanoparticles were coated with PSt via interfacial-initiated polymerization with cumene hydroperoxide/ferrous sulfate/disodium ethylenediaminetetraacetate/sodium formaldehyde sulfoxylate (CHPO–Fe2+–EDTA–SFS) as the redox initiation pair. The resulted Ag@PSt nanoparticles were identified by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), dynamic light scattering (DLS), X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS).