Fast swelling strategy for flower-like micro-sized colloidal surfactants with controllable patches by regulating the: T _g of seed particles

Fast swelling strategies for constructing functional particle materials are currently being pursued. Herein, we report an efficient swelling procedure by regulating the glass transition temperature T_g of poly(glycidyl methacrylate) (PGMA) seed particles via copolymerization with n-butyl acrylate (nBA). Single-hole swollen seed particles are formed within 30 min. Moreover, diverse Janus-like monomer-swollen seed particles (MSSs) can also be obtained by adjusting the weight ratio of nBA, with a controlled swelling rate. Moreover, flower-like colloidal microparticles with tunable patches are fabricated after the polymerization of Janus MSSs. Miraculously, these flower-like microparticles are capable of being employed as colloidal surfactants to stabilize not only oil-in-water but also water-in-oil emulsions without any modification. More importantly, it further enriches the species of colloidal surfactants and promotes technological advance of fast swelling systems for constructing advanced functional materials on a large scale and at low cost.