Title: Uniform Concave Polystyrene-Carbon Core–Shell Nanospheres by a Swelling Induced Buckling Process

Abstract

We have developed a facile procedure that can create asymmetrical building blocks by uniformly deforming nanospheres into C_∞v symmetry at low cost and high quality. Concave polystyrene@carbon (PS@C) core–shell nanospheres were produced by a very simple microwave-assisted alcohol thermal treatment of spherical PS@C nanoparticles. The dimensions and ratio of the concave part can be precisely controlled by temperature and solvents. The concavity is created by varying the alcohol-thermal treatment to tune the swelling properties that lead to the mechanical deformation of the PS@C core–shell structure. The driving force is attributed to the significant volume increase that occurs upon polystyrene core swelling with the incorporation of solvent. We propose a mechanism adapted from published models for the depression of soft capsules. An extrapolation from this model predicts that the rigid shell is used to generate a cavity in the unbuckled shell, which is experimentally confirmed. This swelling and deformation route is flexible and should be applicable to other polymeric nanoparticles to produce asymmetrical nanoparticles.

Authors:

Liu, Deyu ^[1]; Peng, Xinxing ^[2]; Wu, Binghui ^[2]; Zheng, Xueyun ^[1]; Chuong, Tracy T. ^[1]; Li, Jialuo ^[1]; Sun, Shigang ^[3]; Stucky, Galen D. ^[1]

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+ Show Author Affiliations

1. Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California, Santa Barbara, California 93106, United States
2. Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California, Santa Barbara, California 93106, United States, State Key Laboratory for Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Energy Materials and Department of Chemistry, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China
3. State Key Laboratory for Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Energy Materials and Department of Chemistry, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China

Publication Date:

Wed Jul 29 00:00:00 EDT 2015

Research Org.:

Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRC) (United States). Center for Energy Efficient Materials (CEEM)

Sponsoring Org.:

USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES); National Science Foundation (NSF)

OSTI Identifier:

1204681

Alternate Identifier(s):

OSTI ID: 1369790

Grant/Contract Number:  

SC0001009; DMR 0805148; DMR 1121053; J1210034; 2010631076

Resource Type:

Published Article

Journal Name:

Journal of the American Chemical Society

Additional Journal Information:

Journal Name: Journal of the American Chemical Society Journal Volume: 137 Journal Issue: 31; Journal ID: ISSN 0002-7863

Publisher:

American Chemical Society (ACS)

Country of Publication:

United States

Language:

English

Subject:

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY; Alcohols; Absorption; Nanoparticles; Chemical structure; Solvents