Polymer nanoparticles synthesis: methods

Metal-containing polymers may be produced by various methods, such as chemical reactions of precursors— in particular, reactions of metal salts in polymer solutions, the treatment of polymers with metal vapors, or the polymerization of various metal-monomer systems [1-4], Depending on the metal nature and the polymer structure, these processes lead to organometallic units incorporated into polymer chains, metal-polymer complexes, or metal clusters and nanoparticles physically connected with polymer matrix. Of special interest are syntheses with the use of metal vapors. In this case, metal atoms or clusters are not protected by complexones or solvate envelopes and consequently have specific high reactivity. It should be noted that the apparatus and principles of metal vapor synthesis techniques are closely related to many industrial processes with participation of atomic and molecular species [5]—for example, manufacturing devices for microelectronic from different metals and metal containing precursors [6]. Vapor synthesis methods employ varying metals and... 

A conducting polymer, such as polyaniline, decorated with metallic or semiconducting nanoparticles furnishes an exciting system to investigate the prospect of designing device functionality directly into the material. A facile bulk synthesis method capable of producing high-quality polyaniline nanofibers, with... 

Tremendous research works have been performed on the synthesis of conducting polymer nanomaterials using dispersion polymerization method [181-188]. There are two categories of dispersion polymerization in order to fabricate the conducting polymer colloids. The first approach forms polymer stabilizer coated conducting polymer nanoparticles. In this case, the monomer and oxidant are dissolved in a stabilized liquid mediiun and the formation of insoluble conducting polymer nanoparticles occurs as the polymerization proceeds. 

Preparations of nanoparticles have yielded synthesis methods that are widely used to obtain nanoparticle samples for research pinposes [3-5]. These preparations have led to detailed examinations of the opto-electronic properties of nanostmctures as they deviate from those of the bulk material. For example, the blue shift in the absorption onset as a function of decreasing nanoparticle size can be directly related to quantum confinement of excitons within the nanoparticle [6]. Due to their extremely small size and large specific surface area, nanoparticles usually exhibit unusual physical and chemical properties compared to that of bulk materials [7]. The use of polymer matrix as an environment for in situ nanoparticle growth combines, synergistically. 

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