We herein report a facile method to prepare raspberry-like poly(styrene–glycidyl methacrylate) [P(S–GMA)] particles with controllable structure via a one-step soap-free emulsion polymerization process accompanied by phase separation. In this method, corona particles with a size of 10–20 nm were produced in situ in the later polymerization stage by the migrating of S-enriched polymers from GMA-enriched core particles. The size of the corona particles and the roughness of the raspberry-like particles can be easily controlled by adjusting the amount of styrene (S), glycidyl methacrylate (GMA), and divinylbenzene (DVB). The structure of raspberry-like P(S–GMA) particles was confirmed by transmission electron microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and atomic force microscopy. A possible mechanism of the formation of raspberry-like particles was proposed.

http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/la402759w?journalCode=langd5&quickLinkVolume=29&quickLinkPage=11730&selectedTab=citation&volume=29