This paper attempted to prepare hybrid particles in which the inorganic and organic
components were chemically bonded in simplification. The polymethacrylo
xypropylsilsesquioxanes-polyacrylate (PMPS-PA) latex particles were prepared
through seeded emulsion polymerization using polymethacryloxypropylsilsesquiox-
anes (PMPS) as seed. As a reference, silica-polyacrylate (S-PA) latex particles were
obtained with similar method. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, dynamic light
scattering and transmission electron microscopy were used to characterize the chem-
ical composition and morphology of the resultant hybrid particles. The results
showed that PMPS-PA particles were uniformly spherical with core-shell morphol-
ogy and possessed narrow size distribution, whereas S-PA hybrid particles were not
uniform as PMPS-PA particles and had bimodal size distribution. The surface
properties, optical properties and thermal stability of the corresponding films were
investigated by scanning electron microscopy, UV–Vis spectroscopy and thermo
gravimetric analysis. Comparatively, PMPS-PA film exhibited smoother surface,
larger optical transmittance and better thermal stability than S-PA film. These could
be attributed to PMPS that were chemically bonded with PA phases, whereas weak
interactions between silica and PA phases in S-PA, where silica surface modification
was usually required to increase the surface interactions. Thus, PMPS particles
containing reactive carbon-carbon double bond could be prospective and be directly
used as seeds in the following emulsion polymerization to prepare chemically
bonded hybrid particles.