Facile synthesis of hollow polymeric microparticles possessing various morphologies via seeded polymerization

Abstract

In this paper, hollow poly(styrene-co-divinylbenzene-co-methacrylic acid) microparticles possessing various morphologies were synthesized by a combination of seeded polymerization and SPG membrane emulsification. Three families of polystyrene (PS) microspheres with various molecular weights but similar diameters were fabricated by SPG membrane emulsification. These PS microspheres were used as seeds to investigate the effect of their molecular weight on the phase separation between the PS seeds and microgel-like networks formed during seeded polymerization and on the morphologies of the resultant particles. Our study revealed that three resultant microparticles possessed diameters of ca. 10 μm and hollow cavities. The shell thickness of the particles became thinner as Mw increased from 3.5 × 104 to 28.0 × 104. The morphological evolution of the microparticles during seeded polymerization was monitored, and these results verified the influence of the molecular weight of the PS seeds on the phase separation behavior and hence the morphologies of the resultant particles.