Size-controllable Synthesis and Functionalization of Ultrafine Polymeric Nanoparticles
Size-controllable Synthesis and Functionalization of Ultrafine Polymeric Nanoparticles
Mengjun Chen, Wantai Yang*, Meizhen Yin*
Small, 2013, 9, 2715-2719 
A facile approach to ultrafine hydrophilic polymeric nanoparticles (PNPs) within 10 nm is developed by anhydrous or aqueous inverse microemulsion polymerization (IMP) of N,N-dimethylacrylamide (DMAA). According to the feature of inverse microemulsion, the product sizes could be controlled within 2-10 nm by adjusting water content of the polymerization system. Since auto-precipitation of products occurs without any demulsifiers, the recycling of surfactants is feasible. The auto-precipitation mechanism is proposed and discussed.
