Preparation of monodisperse poly(St-co-PETEA) microspheres by precipitation polymerization using ethanol as solvent

Precipitation polymerization of styrene (St) was carried out with pentaerythritol tetraacrylate (PETEA) to produce monodisperse crosslinked microspheres. A much safer ethanol replaced acetonitrile as a solvent in precipitation polymerization of monodisperse crosslinked poly(St-co-PETEA) microspheres. Monodisperse crosslinked microspheres with high monomer conversion were achieved within 4 hr. Uniform and well-separated monodisperse were obtained in ethanol when PETEA concentration varied from 30 vol% to 90 vol% and the particle diameter decreased from 0.75 to 0.58 mu m. The particle yield increased from 36.51 to 64.38% by increase in the initiator loading from 1 to 8 wt%. No coagulum occurred between particles when the polymerization time varied from 2 to 10 hr. Copyright (C) 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.