Polymer-metal hybrids

Metal/polymer hybrid particles displaying an eccentric structure were very recently reported [327, 328]. The key parameter for the formation of such morphologies was the addition of the metal nanoparticles after the polymerization was started. The reaction was performed in a water/ethanol mixture (40/60 by weight), ethanol playing a key role in the reduction of charge effects. Each hybrid particle contained only one metal nanoparticle anchored on the poly(styrene-co-DVB-ct)-NaSS) polymer particle. The strategy proved to be successful for gold, palladium, and platinum. 

Son HY, Ryu JH, Lee H, Nam YS (2013) Bioinspired templating synthesis of metal-polymer hybrid nanostructures within 3D electrospun nanofihers. ACS Appl Mater Interfaces 5 6381-6390... 

The in situ wet chemical approach requires less nanocarbon modification, especially for electrodeposition, and can produce thin, uniform, multilayer films. This is the method of choice for nanocarbon-polymer hybrids as the increased interfacial area reduces problems of nanocarbon insolubility and subsequent aggregation. Gas phase deposition offers the greatest control of thin film thickness but is suitable almost exclusively to the deposition of metals and metal oxides. 

We measured the electrical conductivity of Pt-C nanocomposites using two-point measurements. In a representative example the NP-polymer hybrid had a conductivity of 2.5 mS cm-1, which increased to 400 S cm-1 upon pyrolysis. Despite the presence of carbon, to the best of our knowledge this value represented the highest electrical conductivity yet measured for ordered mesoporous materials derived from block copolymers. This discovery creates a potential pathway to a new class of ordered mesoporous metals made from nanoparticles of different elements and/or distinct compositions. Such nano-heterogeneous mesoporous metals may have a range of exceptional electrical, optical, and catalytic properties. 

The crosslinking of polymer 6 already works with 0.01 weight percent of transition metal complexes applied. By raising the amount of suitable metal complexes in the polymer, hybrid polymers are obtained in which transition metal building blocks are incorporated into the polymeric hydridocarbosilane to form organosilicon-metal polymers [7b, 10]. 

As can be seen from the discussion above, the polyelectrolyte gel-surfactant complexes present interesting hybrid metal-polymer nanocomposites, allowing a vast variety of incorporated metals and metal-polymer-surfactant structures. The limitations of these systems are their heterogeneous character (insoluble in any media) and excessive sensitivity to external parameters (pH, temperature, etc.). 

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