Polymeric nanomaterials

Scope and method of study. The purpose of this research was to use polymers as building blocks and as stabilizers at the nanoscale. Materials in this research included: semiconductor nanoparticles stabilized with poly (cysteine acrylamide), semiconductor nanoparticle/polystyrene latex composites, core/shell polystyrene/poly (methyl methacrylate) latexes, and hydrophobic quaternary ammonium dendrimers. The nanoparticles were used as fluorescent tags. The composite latexes and core/shell latexes were for use as optical tracking materials. The dendrimer molecules were used as unimolecular micelle catalysts.; Findings and conclusions. Nanoparticles stabilized with poly (cysteine acrylamide) were stable at pH from 3 to 10 and were highly stable after dialysis. Nanoparticle/latex composites were formed in three ways: electrostatic attachment of nanoparticles to latexes, capture of nanoparticles during latex synthesis, and capture of nanoparticles during latex synthesis by coordination of monomer to the nanoparticles. These composites were useful for optical tracking by fluorescence microscopy. Core/shell latexes were synthesized with a core/shell diameter ratio of 1/7.5. This resulted in a 1/420 volume ratio and allows these materials to be tracer particles for dynamic light scattering experiments. Quaternary ammonium poly (propylenimine) dendrimers were found to be surface active and catalytically active for the decarboxylation of 6-nitrobenzisoxazole-3-carboxylate when 8 dodecyl chains were placed on a tertiary methylated 8 end-group dendrimer.