title: Design and development of anisotropic inorganic/polystyrene nanocomposites by surface modification of zinc oxide nanoparticles.
abstract: Anisotropic yolk/shell or Janus inorganic/polystyrene nanocomposites were prepared by combining miniemulsion polymerization and sol-gel reaction. The morphologies of the anisotropic composites were found to be greatly influenced by surface modification of zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticle seeds. Two different types of the oleic acid modified ZnO nanoparticles (OA-ZnO) were prepared by post-treatment of commercial ZnO powder and homemade OA-ZnO nanoparticles. The morphologies and properties of the nanocomposites were investigated by transmission electron microscope (TEM), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), dynamic light scattering (DLS), and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX). It was found that both post-treated OA-ZnO and in-situ prepared OA-ZnO nanoparticles resulted in the yolk-shell and Janus structure nanocomposites, but with varied size and morphology. These nanocomposites showed stable and strong fluorescence by introducing quantum dots as the co-seeds. The fluorescent anisotropic nanocomposites were decorated separately with surface carboxyl and hydroxyl groups. These composites with unique anisotropic properties will have high potential in biomedical applications, particularly in bio-detection.
authors.affiliation: School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, PR China; Research Center for Translational Medicine, East Hospital, the Institute for Biomedical Engineering & Nano Science, Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200092, PR China.
authors.forename: Xiao
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Han
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, PR China.
authors.forename: Shiming
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Research Center for Translational Medicine, East Hospital, the Institute for Biomedical Engineering & Nano Science, Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200092, PR China. Electronic address: yilongwang@tongji.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Yilong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Research Center for Translational Medicine, East Hospital, the Institute for Biomedical Engineering & Nano Science, Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200092, PR China; The Materials Science and Engineering Program, College of Engineering and Applied Science, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH 45221, USA. Electronic address: shid@ucmail.uc.edu.
authors.forename: Donglu
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Shi
mesh_terms: D016880:Anisotropy; D053761:Nanocomposites / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D011137:Polystyrenes / Q000737:chemistry*; D013499:Surface Properties; D015034:Zinc Oxide / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D011137:Polystyrenes; D015034:Zinc Oxide
keywords: Anisotropic nanocomposites; Miniemulsion polymerization; Oleic acid; Surface modified zinc oxide