Abstract
A novel in situ synthesis of BaSO4 as an X-ray imaging contrast agent within poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) microgels has been accomplished by one-step droplet microfluidics with interlinking reactions. A one-step droplet microfluidics device with wavy channels is employed to produce monodispersed PNIPAM microgels (∼40 μm) via free radical polymerization by the initiation of the ammonium persulfate (APS) and N,N,N′,N′- tetramethylethylenediamine (TEMED) complex. The resulting PNIPAM microgels are subsequently dripped into a collecting bath containing an aqueous BaCl 2 solution. For the in situ synthesis of BaSO4, Ba 2+ ions would diffuse into the PNIPAM microgels and further react with SO42- ions originated from the decomposed by-product of the APS-TEMED complex during the initiation, yielding almost 100% atom efficiency of persulfate ions. The morphologies and the composition of the PNIPAM microgels containing in situ synthesized BaSO4 (BaSO 4-PNIPAM microgels) are characterized by scanning electron microscopy combined with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDX) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). These results show that 14 nm BaSO4 crystallites have been in situ synthesized in the PNIPAM microgels. The resulting BaSO 4-PNIPAM microgels are also visible under X-ray radiation by an in vitro fluoroscopic evaluation. This droplet microfluidics based method provides a green and atom-economical reaction approach to synthesize functionalized microgels with a uniform distribution of BaSO4 nano-crystallites. Moreover, the radiopaque BaSO4-PNIPAM microgels also possess great potential in the fields of endovascular embolization, diagnostic imaging, and visible implantation materials.
Original language | English (US) |
---|---|
Pages (from-to) | 2222-2229 |
Number of pages | 8 |
Journal | Green Chemistry |
Volume | 15 |
Issue number | 8 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Aug 2013 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Environmental Chemistry
- Pollution