Engineering the Surface Pattern of Microparticles: From Raspberry-like to Golf Ball-like

Area of Science:

• Materials Science and Nanotechnology
• Polymer Chemistry
• Colloid Science

Background:

• Controlling the shape and uniformity of colloid particles is crucial for their functional applications.
• Anisotropic microparticles with defined surface patterns are highly sought after for advanced material design.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a facile and controllable method for synthesizing narrowly dispersed anisotropic microparticles.
• To create microparticles with well-defined raspberry-like and golf ball-like surface patterns.
• To explore the mechanism of pattern formation and the potential of these particles as precursors.

Main Methods:

• One-pot polymerization using glycidyl polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (GPOSS) and pentaerythritol tetra(3-mercaptopropionate) (PETMP) monomers.
• Tuning polymerization parameters (catalyst, concentration, monomer ratio) to control particle size and surface features.
• Pyrolysis of synthesized raspberry-like particles to generate microporous silica particles.

Main Results:

• Successfully synthesized narrowly dispersed anisotropic microparticles with raspberry-like surface patterns.
• Demonstrated control over particle size and surface protrusion number by adjusting polymerization conditions.
• Established a mechanism involving thiol-epoxy and thiol-thiol coupling reactions for pattern formation.
• Produced golf ball-like microporous silica particles via pyrolysis of the raspberry-like precursors.

Conclusions:

• A straightforward and controllable approach for synthesizing anisotropic microparticles with tunable surface patterns has been established.
• The synthesized particles serve as versatile precursors for creating patterned silica microparticles.
• This method offers significant potential for designing functional microparticles for diverse applications.