Preparation of Poly[Styrene(ST)-co-Allyloxy-2-Hydroxypropane Sulfonic Acid Sodium Salt(COPS-I)] Colloidal Crystalline Photonic Crystals.

Colloidal crystalline photonic crystals using highly monodisperse poly[Styrene(ST)-co-Allyloxy-2-hydroxypropane sulfonic acid sodium salt(COPS-I)] microspheres were prepared to study their optical properties under visible light. For this purpose, a series of surfactant-free emulsion copolymerizations was carried out at various reaction conditions such as the changes of ST/COPS-I ratio, polymerization temperature, KPS initiator and DVB crosslinker concentration. All the latices showed highly uniform spherical particles in the size range of 165-550 nm and the respective opaline structural colors from their colloidal photonic crystals.

Monodispersepoly[BMA-co-(COPS-I)] Particles by Soap-Free Emulsion Copolymerization and Its Optical Properties as Photonic Crystals.

In order to study the surfactant-free emulsion copolymerization of benzyl methacrylate (BMA) with sodium 1-allyloxy-2-hydroxypropane sulfonate (COPS-I) and the resulting optical properties, a series of experiments was carried out at various reaction conditions such as the changes of BMA concentration, COPS-I concentration, BMA concentration under a fixed COPS-I amount, initiator and divinyl benzene (DVB) concentration. All the latices showed highly monodispersed spherical particles in the size range of 144~435 nm and the respective shiny structural colors from their colloidal photonic crystals. It is found that the changes in such polymerization factors greatly affect the number of particles and particle diameter, polymerization rate, molecular weight, zeta-potential, and refractive indices.

Preparation of poly(BMA-co-MMA) particles by soap-free emulsion polymerization and its optical properties as photonic crystals.

Narrowly dispersed poly(BMA-co-MMA) and PBMA latices with particle diameters ranging within 216-435 nm were synthesized successfully by surfactant-free emulsion polymerization with KPS and AIBA. The average particle diameter and particle size distribution, average molecular weight and its distribution, glass transition temperature, reflectance spectra in visible wavelength, and refractive indices for the respective poly(BMA-co-MMA) latices and their photonic crystals were systematically investigated in terms of BMA/MMA ratio, BMA content, polymerization temperature, and DVB effect. The rate of polymerization increased with increasing MMA concentration in BMA/MMA ratio.