Highly Crosslinked Poly(methyl methacrylate-co-divinylbenzene) Microspheres by Precipitation Polymerization

摘要

The precipitation polymerization, the most recently invented by Stover’s group, provides another pathway to synthesize spherical polymer particles. The uniqueness of the precipitation polymerization lies in the absence of any stabilizing agent such as surfactants or steric stabilizers for obtaining spherical particles. In the precipitation polymerization, the formation of stable spheres is achieved by means of a self-stabilizing mechanism via crosslinking of polymer chains. Since high level of crosslinking is developed in individual particles, the coagulation between the particles is prevented due to the hard and resilient nature of each particle.