Synthesis of ZnO/Polystyrene Composite Particles by Pickering Emulsion Polymerization

摘要

ZnO is an amphoteric substance and has the ability to sense and adjust pH value, making it useful in biomaterial and textile. Traditional emulsion polymerization was preceded by adding surfactant to stabilize hydrophobic monomer in aqueous medium. If surfactants are replaced by inorganic nano-sized particles it is called Pickering emulsion polymerization. In this study, ZnO/polystyrene composite particles were prepared by Pickering emulsion polymerization. Nano-sized ZnO particles were first synthesized then polymerization of styrene was conducted in the presence of ZnO nanoparticles. X-ray diffraction FT- IR were used to characterize ZnO/polystyrene. The morphology of ZnO/polystyrene composite particle was studied with transmission electron microscopy. Finally the pH adjusting ability of ZnO/polystyrene composite particles was investigated.