Temperature Responsive Solution Partition of Organic-Inorganic Hybrid Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide)-Coated Mesoporous Silica Nanospheres

A series of poly(N‐isopropylacrylamide)‐coated mesoporous silica nanoparticle materials (PNiPAm‐MSNs) has been synthesized by a surface‐initiated living radical polymerization with a reversible addition–fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) reaction. The structure and the degree of polymerization of the PNiPAm‐MSNs has been characterized by a variety of techniques, including nitrogen sorption analysis, 29Si and 13C solid‐state NMR spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and powder X‐ray diffraction (XRD). The thermally induced changes of the surface properties of these polymer‐coated core–shell nanoparticles have been determined by examining their partition activities in a biphasic solution (water/toluene) at different temperatures. A series of poly(N‐isopropylacrylamide)‐coated mesoporous silica nanoparticles (PNiPAm‐MSNs) have been synthesized (see scheme). By controlling the degree of polymerization, these organic–inorganic hybrid nanoparticles exhibit a temperature‐dependent solution partition behavior between hydrophobic and hydrophilic solvents.