Fabrication of Ternary Hybrid Colloids via In‐Situ Polymerization at the Interface of Oil/Water Emulsion

This article describes a simple method to fabricate ternary hybrid colloids by using snowman-like PEO-SiO2/PS colloids as nucleuses at the interface of oil/water emulsion. The ternary hybrid colloids are composed of three parts with asymmetric compositions and constructions, SiO2 hemisphere with PEO groups, disc-like or ring-like cross-linked poly(4-vinylbenzyl chloride), and PS hollow sphere. In a certain condition, snowman-like PEO-SiO2/PS colloids, deionized water, divinylbenzene, 4-vinylbenzyl chloride, and n-alkane are mixed to form homogenous and stable oil/water emulsion. The snowman-like PEO-SiO2/PS colloids are vertically situated at the interface of oil/water emulsion for their amphiphilicity. At the interface of oil/water emulsion, divinylbenzene and 4-vinylbenzyl chloride are initiated to polymerize and generate cross-linked poly(4-vinylbenzyl chloride) surrounding snowman-like PEO-SiO2/PS colloids and thus PEO-SiO2/PVBC/PS colloids are fabricated. This method provides a versatile and modular tool to fabricate ternary hybrid colloids at the interface of oil/water emulsion.