The Synthesis of a New Class of Polymer Colloids with a Low Index of Refraction

In this paper we report the synthesis of highly charged polymer colloids based on the monomer dihydroperfluorobutylacrylate with a refraction index of nD20 = 1.37. By varying the polymerization parameters we could prepare polymer colloids in the size range of 70-500 nm. Removal of the excess ions in the suspensions leads to the formation of liquid-like or solid-like phases.