One-step Preparation of Brush-type Polystyrene (PS)-SiO<sub>2</sub>-Poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) Janus Nanoparticle to Compatibilize PS/Poly(methyl methacrylate) Blends

Feng-Yuan Tu; Ming-Feng Wang; Gang Zhong; Hua-Wei Qiao; Bo-Tuo Zheng; Can-Pei Liu; Ming-Feng Chen; Hua-Gui Zhang

doi:10.1007/s10118-025-3357-z

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One-step Preparation of Brush-type Polystyrene (PS)-SiO₂-Poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) Janus Nanoparticle to Compatibilize PS/Poly(methyl methacrylate) Blends

RESEARCH ARTICLE | Updated：2025-07-26

- One-step Preparation of Brush-type Polystyrene (PS)-SiO₂-Poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) Janus Nanoparticle to Compatibilize PS/Poly(methyl methacrylate) Blends
- Chinese Journal of Polymer Science Vol. 43, Issue 8, Pages: 1375-1386(2025)
- Affiliations：
  
  College of Chemistry and Materials Science, Fujian Key Laboratory of Polymer Materials, Fujian Normal University, Fuzhou 350007, China
- Author bio：
  
  huagui.zhang@fjnu.edu.cn
- Funds：
- DOI：10.1007/s10118-025-3357-z
  CLC：
- Received：31 January 2025，
  
  Revised：22 March 2025，
  
  Accepted：23 March 2025，
  
  Published Online：18 June 2025，
  
  Published：01 August 2025
- Accepted：
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Tu, F. Y.; Wang, M. F.; Zhong, G.; Qiao, H. W.; Zheng, B. T.; Liu, C. P.; Chen, M. F.; Zhang, H. G. One-step preparation of brush-type polystyrene (PS)-SiO₂-poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) Janus nanoparticle to compatibilize PS/poly(methyl methacrylate) blends. Chinese J. Polym. Sci. 2025, 43, 1375–1386

Feng-Yuan Tu, Ming-Feng Wang, Gang Zhong, et al. One-step Preparation of Brush-type Polystyrene (PS)-SiO₂-Poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) Janus Nanoparticle to Compatibilize PS/Poly(methyl methacrylate) Blends[J]. Chinese journal of polymer science, 2025, 43(8): 1375-1386.
Tu, F. Y.; Wang, M. F.; Zhong, G.; Qiao, H. W.; Zheng, B. T.; Liu, C. P.; Chen, M. F.; Zhang, H. G. One-step preparation of brush-type polystyrene (PS)-SiO₂-poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) Janus nanoparticle to compatibilize PS/poly(methyl methacrylate) blends. Chinese J. Polym. Sci. 2025, 43, 1375–1386 DOI： 10.1007/s10118-025-3357-z.

Feng-Yuan Tu, Ming-Feng Wang, Gang Zhong, et al. One-step Preparation of Brush-type Polystyrene (PS)-SiO₂-Poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) Janus Nanoparticle to Compatibilize PS/Poly(methyl methacrylate) Blends[J]. Chinese journal of polymer science, 2025, 43(8): 1375-1386. DOI： 10.1007/s10118-025-3357-z.

摘要

A brush-type polystyrene (PS)-SiO

- poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) (PHEMA) Janus nanoparticle prepared in one step via interfacial ATRP exhibits efficient compatibilization effect on PS/PMMA blend with morphology well re

fined and mechanical properties significantly enhanced

thanks to its combination of high interfacial adsorption of polymer chains and good anchoring capacity of particles.

Abstract

Compatibilization is crucial for the blending of immiscible polymers to develop high-performance composites; however

traditional compatibilization by copolymers (pre-made or in-situ generation) suffers from weak interface anchoring

and inorganic particles have gained extensive attention recently owing to their large interfacial desorption energy

while their low affinity to bulk components is a drawback. In this study

an interfacial atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) technique was employed to grow polystyrene (PS) and poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate)(PHEMA) simultaneously on different hemispheres of Br-functionalized SiO

nanoparticles to stabilize a Pickering emulsion

whereby a brush-type Janus nanoparticle (SiO

@JNP) was developed. The polymer brushes were well-characterized

and the Janus feature was validated by transmission electron microscope (TEM) observation of the sole hemisphere grafting of SiO

-PS as a control sample. SiO

@JNP was demonstrated to be an efficient compatibilizer for a PS/poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) immiscible blend

and the droplet-matrix morphology was significantly refined. The mechanical strength and toughness of the blend were synchronously enhanced at a low content SiO

@JNP optimized ~0.9 wt%

with the tensile strength

elongation at break and impact strength increased by 17.7%

26.6% and 19.6%

respectively. This enhancement may be attributed to the entanglements between the grafted polymer brushes and individual components that improve the particle-bulk phase affinity and enforce interfacial adhesion.

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⁰

One-step Preparation of Brush-type Polystyrene (PS)-SiO2-Poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) Janus Nanoparticle to Compatibilize PS/Poly(methyl methacrylate) Blends

DOI：10.1007/s10118-025-3357-z

摘要

Abstract

关键词

Keywords

references

One-step Preparation of Brush-type Polystyrene (PS)-SiO₂-Poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) Janus Nanoparticle to Compatibilize PS/Poly(methyl methacrylate) Blends