Synthesis of PS/Ag asymmetric hybrid particles via phase separation and self-assembly

This article presents a facile approach to preparation of polystyrene/silver （PS/Ag） asymmetric hybrid par- ticles. In this method, polystyrene/polyglycidyl methacrylate （PS/PGMA） Janus particles were synthesized via internal phase separation triggered by evaporation of dichloromethane （DCM） from PS/PGMA/DCM- in water emulsion droplets. Then, the Janus particles were aminated and sequentially carboxylated to obtain PS/PGMA-NH2 and PS/PGMA-COOH particles. Ag＋ self-assembled on the surface of PGMA hemi- sphere of the functionalized PS/PGMA particles by coordinating with amine/carboxyl. PS/Ag asymmetric hybrid particles with 7.29 wt% of Ag were obtained by reduction of Ag＋, Scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy results confirmed that Ag was asymmetrically distributed on the surface of polymer particles.