Premium
Dispersion polymerization of uniform cross‐linked polystyrene microspheres in butan‐1‐ol
Author(s) -
Beal John H. L.,
Xu Ying,
AlSalim Najeh,
Arnold W. Mike
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
journal of applied polymer science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.575
H-Index - 166
eISSN - 1097-4628
pISSN - 0021-8995
DOI - 10.1002/app.43103
Subject(s) - divinylbenzene , dispersion polymerization , materials science , styrene , polymerization , polymer chemistry , dispersion (optics) , polystyrene , polymer , copolymer , acrylic acid , solvent , particle size , particle (ecology) , chemical engineering , composite material , chemistry , organic chemistry , optics , physics , oceanography , geology , engineering
Butan‐1‐ol can be used as the solvent in the synthesis of poly(styrene‐ co ‐divinylbenzene‐ co ‐acrylic acid) microspheres by dispersion polymerization of a mixture of styrene, divinylbenzene (DVB), and acrylic acid (AA). Varying the proportion of the crosslinker DVB affects the size distribution and particle morphology profoundly, with 0.5–1.0% w/w producing spherical particles, whereas 2.0% w/w DVB produces irregular, concave morphologies. Varying the amount of AA from 5–7% w/w increases the average diameter of the spherical particles, whereas 9% w/w AA results in ovoid particles with dimpled surface morphology. In an optimized synthesis using 1.0% w/w DVB and 5% AA, uniform polymer microspheres with an average diameter of 0.8 µm and a coefficient of variation (CV) of diameter of 8.2% are produced. The use of a medium‐polarity solvent, such as butan‐1‐ol, as the solvent for dispersion polymerization will facilitate the incorporation of non‐polar moieties, such as organically‐passivated quantum dots, into the polymer during synthesis. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2016 , 133 , 43103.