Poly(methyl methacrylate) multihollow particles by water in oil in water emulsion polymerization

✍ Scribed by Bum-Su Kim; Jin-Woong Kim; Kyung-Do Suh

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2000
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 248 KB
• Volume: 76
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0021-8995
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1097-4628(20000404)76:1<38::aid-app5>3.0.co;2-h

✦ Synopsis

Multihollow-structured poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) particles were produced employing the water in oil in water (W/O/W) emulsion polymerization technique where sorbitan monooleate was used as a primary surfactant and sodium laurylsulfate and Glucopen, a polypeptide derivative, were used as secondary surfactants. Vinyl acetate was copolymerized to improve the wettability of the particles. The agitation speed and concentration of the urethane acrylate employed as a reactive viscosity enhancer played a crucial role in determining the morphology and average size of the PMMA multihollow particles. In high agitation speed the multihollow particles displayed a small size and narrow size distribution resulting from efficient droplet breakup. Especially when the urethane acrylate was incorporated, PMMA multihollow particles with a smooth and clear surface were achieved. This was believed to be because the urethane acrylate increased the viscosity of the monomer mixture and helped to form the stable W/O/W emulsion droplets that restricted droplet coalescence during polymerization.