Synthesis of Polystyrene and Poly(4-vinylpyridine) Mixed Grafted Silica Nanoparticles via a Combination of ATRP and Cu^I-Catalyzed Azide-Alkyne Click Chemistry

Binary polystyrene and poly(4-vinylpyridine) mixed grafted silica nanoparticles (PSt/P4VP-g-SNPs) are fabricated using CuI -catalyzed azide-alkyne Huisgen cycloaddition (CuAAC) via grafting-to method. Azide-terminated PSt and P4VP are synthesized via post- and pre-atom transfer radical polymerization modification, respectively. Then, the polymers are simultaneously anchored onto alkyne-modified SNPs by CuAAC yielding mixed brushes as shown by Raman spectroscopy, dynamic light scattering, and thermogravimetric analysis. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of simultaneously grafting two distinct polymer chains to synthesize mixed grafted silica nanoparticles using CuAAC technique via grafting-to method.