Synthesis and Characterization of Silica Nanoparticles with Well-Defined Thermoresponsive PNIPAM via a Combination of RAFT and Click Chemistry

Covalent functionalization of azide-modified SiO2 with well-defined, alkyne-terminated poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) was accomplished by the Cu(I)-catalyzed [3 + 2] Huisgen cycloaddition. The alkyne-terminated RAFT chain transfer agent was first synthesized, and then the alkyne-terminated thermoresponsive poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) with different molecular weights were synthesized by the RAFT of NIPAM monomer. The polymerization kinetics and the evolution of number-average molecular weights (Mn), and polydispersities (Mw/Mn), with monomer conversions were investigated. A copper(I)-catalyzed azide–alkyne cycloaddition (CuAAC) “grafting to” method was used to attach thermoresponsive polymers onto the exterior surface of SiO2 nanoparticles which produced relatively high grafting density. The as-synthesized hybrid nanoparticles showed thermoresponsive behavior and were characterized by FTIR, XPS, TGA, DLS, and TEM, etc.