Methacrylate-based nanoparticles produced by microemulsion polymerization

Nanoparticles of methacrylate comonomers were obtained by microemulsion polymerization by using cetyltrimethylammonium bromide as the stabilizer. Stable and bluish transparent latexes were produced from these polymerizations in which potassium persulphate was used as the initiator. The viscosity average molecular weights were in between 6 × 105 and 1.25 × 106. The average diameters of the latex particles were in the range of 20–40 nm, which was obtained by scanning tunneling microscopy. The average particle diameter increased both with an increase in the relative amount of the comonomers and their type. The glass transition temperatures of these polymers obtained by DSC were in the range of 30–103°C, and decreased with the increase in the comonomer ratio. The comonomer ratios in the final copolymers were obtained from 1H-NMR spectra, which were smaller than those ratios used in the original recipes.