Monodisperse, temperature-sensitive microgels crosslinked by Si-O-Si bonds

A series of novel temperature-sensitive microgels were prepared through precipitation polymerization using MPTMS as the comonomer as well as the crosslinker. APS acted as the initiator to initiate the radical copolymerization of NIPAAm and MPTMS, at the same time, the acid environment resulting from the decomposition of APS catalyzed the hydrolysis/condensation of the siloxane groups to generate crosslinking points. The experimental results revealed that the microgels exhibited temperature sensitivity and the phase transition temperature was approximately 31 °C. An increase of SDS concentration or a decrease of MPTMS content resulted in a reduction of the final hydrodynamic diameters of the microgels.