Well-dispersedBaSO4nanoparticlesweresynthesizedinthepresenceofsodiumpolyacrylate（PAAS）byasimpleprecipitationmethod,withBaCl2and（NH4）2SO4asreactants.ThedifferentrolesperformedbyPAASinthesynthesisofBaSO4nanoparticleswereinvestigatedusingX-raydiffractometry,Fouriertransforminfraredspectroscopy,andtransmissionelectronmicroscopy.TheresultsindicatethattheassynthesizedBaSO4nanoparticlesweresphereswithanaveragediameterof30nmandthattheirsurfaceswereaffectedbythePAAS.Underatypicalprocedureemployed,PAASreactedwithBaCl2toyieldanintermediate,servingasacontrolreleasingagentandseparatingthenucleationandcrystalgrowthprocessesoftheBaSO4nuclei.DuringformationoftheBaSO4nanospheres,theintermediateslowlydissolvedandreleasedbariumandpolyacrylateions,inhibitingthegrowthandaggregationofnewlyformedBaSO4seedsandresultinginparticlesofnarrowdiameterdistributionandimproveddispersibility.Moreover,thesepolyacrylateionsfurthermodifiedthesurfacesoftheBaSO4nanoparticles.
