Study of the Effect of Azobisisobutyronitrile (AIBN) Initiator and Various Stabilizers on the Size of PS Seed Nanoparticles Used for the Synthesis of Confetti-like Nanoparticles

The synthesis of nonspherical nanoparticles has been the focus of attention of scientific communities in recently years. Dispersion polymerization is the methodused in this study to control the particle size. In the first stage monodisperse seed particles were produced and in the second stage the monomer was changed to produceparticles with different shapes under controlled polymerization conditions. Styrene and other vinyl monomers were polymerized in a polar solution and the effect of various parameters to adjust average seed particle size were studied. Polymerization conditionssuch as temperature, stabilizer type, and the polarity of the reaction medium were effective in determining the particle size. Core/shell and void-containing particles are some examples of polymer particles prepared by this method. In this article, monodisperse seed particles ofpolystyrene (PS) were synthesized using azobisisobutyronitrile (AIBN) and different colloidal stabilizers e.g. hydroxymethyl cellulose (Methocel F50),and various polyvinylalcohols like Alcotex B72 (with 72.5% Hydrolysis) and Gohsenol KH17 (with 80% hydrolysis) and used for later synthesis of confetti-like of nanoparticles