Polymer encapsulation of inorganic particles
Résumé
Hybrid organic/inorganic nanoparticles with length scales on the order of a few to several tens of nanometers have attracted considerable attention in recent years as the intimate combination of polymer and inorganic components at the nanoscale off ers the promise of original properties. They are one of the fruits of the remarkable progress which has been achieved in both polymer and inorganic chemistry. Nanoparticles of noble metals, metal oxides and semiconductors such as gold, CdS or Ti 02, can be prepared in large quantities using thermal decomposition, hydrolysis, reduction and other soft-chemistry processes in solution (1 ]. Not only can these particles be obtained with a controlled size, but they can also be assembled into 2-D or 3-D arrays. Progress in polymer science has also permitted the design and controlled synthesis of well-defined macromolecular architectures, such as new stabilizing surfactants which are able to self-assemble and to be used for structuring mineral materials [2-5]. Typical examples of organic and inorganic colloidal systems are provided in figure 4.1...