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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 February 2011
Two general microemulsion-based routes towards surface-functionalized metal oxide nanoparticles serving as macroinitiators in “grafting from” atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP), are presented. Metal alkoxides modified with several β-diketone derivatives carrying potential ATRP-initiating sites served as precursors for the particle formation leading in an solgel process to in situ-functionalized titanium-, zirconium-, tantalum-, vanadium-, yttrium-, and iron oxide nanoparticles. The obtained systems were compared with metal oxide nanoparticles prepared by using metal salts as precursors which were functionalized in a second step with ATRP-initiator containing silane coupling agents. The obtained particles had diameters between 5 nm and 640 nm and served as multifunctional polymerization initiators in ATRP using styrene and methyl methacrylate as monomers.