PhotoPick

The aim of the project is to use low-energy light (visible or NIR) to initiate radical polymerizations in dispersed media (emulsion and dispersion) using inorganic particles (InPs) as solid stabilizers and potentially photoinitiators (PIs), leading to armored particles. We will target CeO2, ZnO and gold nano-objects, which we selected for their large combined palette of photochemical properties and applications. Our syntheses of the armored particles will rely on grafting approaches, whereby polymer chains will be grown from/through an initiator or a co-monomer anchored to the inorganic particles. We will distinguish photopolymerization processes where the photons used do not interact with the InPs from those where the visible or IR wavelengths do interact, and in that case use the InPs as both stabilizers and PIs. Finally, we will examine the properties of the armored latexes and the materials (films, porous solids) that one can obtain from the latexes prepared. To date no method exists for generating hybrid latexes using photoemulsion or photodispersion methods, let alone using a dual stabilizer/photoinitiator behavior of the InPs, despite the clear advantages of photochemical methods for reactivity control, energy efficiency and improved safety.