Kinetics-controlled regulation for homogeneous nucleation and growth of colloidal polymer and carbon nanospheres

Size regulation of uniform polymer nanospheres (PNSs) and carbon nanospheres (CNSs) below 100 nm has been difficult and is limited by multiple factors, such as ongoing nucleation, Ostwald ripening, minimization of surface energy, and high viscosity during the nucleation and growth process. In this study, a kinetics-controlled regulation is reported for the synthesis of monodispersed PNSs and corresponding CNSs with adjustable size below 100 nm. During the synthesis of PNSs, three distinct stages including surface energy control, surface tension control and viscosity control have been observed, where the concentration of block copolymer F127 (C_F127) plays a vital role in affecting the nucleation rate of PNSs and tunes the diffusion rate of monomers and migration of particles during the nucleation and growth process. As a consequence, the size of monodisperse CNSs can be customized from 100 nm down to 41 nm with PDI below 5%.