Facile synthesis of large sized and monodispersed polymer particles using particle coagulation mechanism: an overview

Abstract

Highly uniform polymer latex particles with controlled particle size have been widely applied in many fields such as nanotechnology, drug delivery, biomedical separation, and material templates. Since the particle size plays a critical role in determining the application fields, various technologies such as two-stage swelling method and dynamic swelling method have been used to control the particle size in the polymerization process. However, these methods usually need a multi-step polymerization reaction and long reaction time. This review focuses on a method of controlling particle size, that is, particle coagulation technology. Particle coagulation technology can be used to produce large sized, monodispersed polymer particles by soap-free emulsion polymerization, macroemulsion polymerization, and dispersion polymerization. In this review article, an overview of the concept of particle coagulation is given, followed by the description of the particle coagulation process in different polymerization systems. Some representative publications about particle coagulation were also reviewed, especially the effect of reaction parameters on the particle coagulation extent and time. Finally, the relationship between the particle coagulation and particle size distribution is reviewed extensively.