Influence of the swelling state of seed polymer particles with monomer on the morphology of micron-sized monodispersed composite polymer particles produced by seeded polymerization utilizing the dynamic swelling method

Abstract

Micron-sized mono-dispersed polystyrene (PS)/poly(n-butyl methacrylate) (PBMA) composite particles (PS/PBMA=2/1 by weight) having a heterogeneous structure in which many fine PBMA domains dispersed in a PS matrix near the particle surface were produced by seeded polymerization of n-butyl methacrylate (BMA) of which almost all had been absorbed by 1.8 µm-sized monodispersed PS seed particles utilizing the dynamic swelling method. The morphology was varied by changing the PS/BMA ratio and polymerization temperature. It was concluded that the swelling state of 2 µm-sized BMA-swollen PS particles in the seeded polymerization process is one of the important factors to control the morphology of the composite particles.