title: Polymer Cages as Universal Tools for the Precise Bottom-Up Synthesis of Metal Nanoparticles.
abstract: A template synthesis allows the preparation of monodisperse nanoparticles with high reproducibility and independent from self-assembly requirements. Tailor-made polymer cages were used for the preparation of nanoparticles, which were made of cross-linked macromolecules with pendant thiol groups. Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) were prepared in the polymer cages in situ, by using different amounts of cages versus gold. The polymer cages exhibited a certain capacity, below which the AuNPs could be grown with excellent control over the size and shape. Control experiments with a linear diblock copolymer showed a continuous increase in the AuNP size as the gold feed increased. This completely different behavior regarding the AuNP size evolution was attributed to the flexibility of the polymer chain depending on cross-linking. Moreover, the polymer cages were suitable for the encapsulation of AgNPs, PdNPs, and PtNPs by the in situ method.
authors.affiliation: Chair of Macromolecular Chemistry II and Bayreuth Centre for Colloids and Interfaces, University of Bayreuth, Universitätsstrasse 30, 95440 Bayreuth (Germany) http://www.mcii.uni-bayreuth.de/en/ag-greiner/index.html.
authors.forename: Ziyin
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Fan
authors.affiliation: Chair of Physical Chemistry I, University of Bayreuth (Germany).
authors.forename: Xuelian
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Chair of Macromolecular Chemistry II and Bayreuth Centre for Colloids and Interfaces, University of Bayreuth, Universitätsstrasse 30, 95440 Bayreuth (Germany) http://www.mcii.uni-bayreuth.de/en/ag-greiner/index.html.
authors.forename: Melissa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Köhn Serrano
authors.affiliation: Chair of Macromolecular Chemistry II and Bayreuth Centre for Colloids and Interfaces, University of Bayreuth, Universitätsstrasse 30, 95440 Bayreuth (Germany) http://www.mcii.uni-bayreuth.de/en/ag-greiner/index.html.
authors.forename: Holger
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Schmalz
authors.affiliation: Chair of Physical Chemistry I, University of Bayreuth (Germany).
authors.forename: Sabine
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rosenfeldt
authors.affiliation: Chair of Physical Chemistry I, University of Bayreuth (Germany).
authors.forename: Stephan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Förster
authors.affiliation: Chair of Macromolecular Chemistry II and Bayreuth Centre for Colloids and Interfaces, University of Bayreuth, Universitätsstrasse 30, 95440 Bayreuth (Germany) http://www.mcii.uni-bayreuth.de/en/ag-greiner/index.html.
authors.forename: Seema
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Agarwal
authors.affiliation: Chair of Macromolecular Chemistry II and Bayreuth Centre for Colloids and Interfaces, University of Bayreuth, Universitätsstrasse 30, 95440 Bayreuth (Germany) http://www.mcii.uni-bayreuth.de/en/ag-greiner/index.html. greiner@uni-bayreuth.de.
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Greiner
keywords: block copolymers; grafting-around; nanoparticles; polymer cages; templates