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(Meth)acrylic Cross‐Linked Polymer Microparticles: Synthesis by Dispersion Polymerization and Particle Characterization
Author(s) -
Valette Ludovic,
Pascault JeanPierre,
Magny Benoît
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
macromolecular materials and engineering
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.913
H-Index - 96
eISSN - 1439-2054
pISSN - 1438-7492
DOI - 10.1002/1439-2054(20020101)287:1<31::aid-mame31>3.0.co;2-z
Subject(s) - monomer , glycidyl methacrylate , dispersion polymerization , materials science , polymer chemistry , polymerization , chemical engineering , acrylate , polymer , copolymer , methacrylate , radical polymerization , acrylic acid , particle size , composite material , engineering
(Meth)acrylic cross‐linked polymer microparticles have been synthesized by dispersion polymerization in organic media. They were produced by radical copolymerization of mono(meth)acrylate monomers with a certain concentration of a diacrylate as cross‐linker, in a mixture of two organic solvents, heptane and propan‐2‐ol. The reactive surfactant (“surfmer”) was a low solubility parameter acrylate monomer, based on an aliphatic ester group (generally C 18 ) or an isobornyl cycle, which gave auto‐dispersing character to the microparticles. By using glycidyl methacrylate in the monomer mixture, oxirane groups were introduced in the particles. The influence of the major synthesis parameters such as solvent composition, monomer composition and concentration, and initiator concentration has been investigated regarding the size and the molar mass of the cross‐linked polymer microparticles. The study was completed with the influence of the nature and the concentration of the surfmer, the concentration of cross‐linking agent and the composition of monomers feed. Stable cross‐linked microparticles ranging from z ‐average radius of gyration, R z = 20 nm to R z > 60 nm were obtained by varying the synthesis conditions. The smallest microparticles were prepared with a blend of heptane and propan‐2‐ol in the 50/50 ratio by weight. Increasing the surfmer concentration or reducing the monomer concentration in the reaction mixture usually led to smaller microparticles. The longer the aliphatic chain of the surfmer, the smaller the microparticles. Minimum sizes were obtained for cross‐linking agent concentrations between 5 and 7.5 mol‐%, depending on monomers composition. For higher concentrations, macrogelation may occur during the synthesis.