Heterogeneous Structures in the Synthesis of Hydrophobic Lauryl Acrylate-Styrene-Ethylene Glycol Dimethacrylate Copolymer Particles

Abstract

Novel crosslinked hydrophobic lauryl acrylate-styrene-ethylene glycol dimethacrylate copolymer particles were synthesized with heterogeneous structures by radical suspension copolymerization with benzoyl peroxide as the initiator. Ethylene glycol dimethacrylate was used as a crosslinking agent; toluene, cyclohexanol, 1-octanol and liquid paraffin were used as porogens. The effects of the crosslinking monomer and porogens on the morphologies of the copolymer microspheres were investigated. The copolymers were characterized by FTIR, SEM and swelling in toluene. Permanent pores remained in the dried polymeric particles prepared with nonsolvating porogens at certain crosslink densities as indicated by SEM pictures. The results of swelling revealed that 1-octanol was the most effective porogen, leading to the LA-S-EGDMA copolymer particles with maximum porosity and optimized spheric morphology. Furthermore, lower crosslink density and higher porogen contents promote the formation of porous morphology.