Abstract
Fluorescence and dynamic light scattering measurements were applied to the study of formation and structure of aggregated colloidal particles in modified poly(ethylene-co-methylacrylate) ionomers in aqueous solution. Both 8-anillino-l-naphthalene-sulfonic acid (ANS) and pyrene were used as fluorescence probe to obtain the information on the structure of particle surface and inside, respectively. Three different ionomers used in this study started to aggregate at very dilute concentration, 3-8 x 10-6 g/mL. In this study, we demonstrate that the polyethylene ionomers can form stable nanoparticles. The hydrophobic core made of the polyethylene backbone chains is stabilized by the ionic groups on the particle surface. Such a formed stable nanoparticles have a relatively narrow size distribution with an average radius in the range of 27-48 nm, depending on the kind of ionic groups. Once the stable particles are formed, the particle size distributions were nearly constant. This study shows another way to prepare surfactant-free polyethylene nanoparticles.