Construction of composite particles with monolayered poly(styrene-co-acrylic acid) spheres on gold surface via heterocoagulation

Abstract

Composite particles are successfully fabricated in a shape of bead-on-bead through a heterocoagulation. Submicron poly(styrene-co-acrylic acid) (PSAA) spheres are prepared and used as guest materials of composite particles. The spheres adsorb on the gold surface of a host material in perfect monolayered form and the pH dependence of the adsorption degree is also investigated. At strong acidic condition, the spheres are effectively adsorbed on the host materials, while the adsorption efficiency dramatically decreases with increasing pH due to the deprotonation of carboxyl groups at the surface of the spheres. Even though the composite particles are immersed in good solvents of PSAA for 12 h, the particles exhibit excellent adsorption stability. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.