Synthesis of Monodisperse Submicron Spherical Poly(methylmethacrylate) Particles and the Molecular Dynamics Simulation

摘要

The molecular-dynamics method has been used to determine the conformational states of poly(methyl methacrylate) chains in a medium composed of water and a monomer (methyl methacrylate). Experimentally detected spherical particles resulting from polymerization have been found to take the form of droplet-type aggregates containing several chains, with the water and monomer concentrations in the aggregates differing from those in the dispersion medium. It has been shown that the methyl methacrylate concentration in an initial reaction mixture of about 20% is optimal for the formation of spherical droplet-type aggregates. It has been experimentally established that spherical poly(methyl methacrylate) particles with a narrow size distribution are formed at a methyl-methacrylate concentration of ≈23%.