Polymerization kinetics and stabilization mechanism of the monodisperse PMMA microspheres

The effects of the concentration of monomer, crosslinking agent, initiator, stabilizer, and the polarity of medium on the polymerization kinetics were investigated. The results show that the rate of polymerization (R _p) and conversion increased with the increase of monomer concentration from 8% to 15% (total mass); the water content in dispersion medium and the initiator 2, 2′ -azobis (isobutyronitrile) (AIBN) concentration increased as well. R _p and conversion decreases with the increase of PVP when it is low, while it increases when it is high. Moreover, PVP plays an important role in microsphere stabilization. The stabilization mechanism was investigated primarily, which involves both adsorbing mechanism and graft mechanism. Within a certain range of crosslinking degree, R _p and conversion increased with the increase of the crosslinker concentration. The effect can be ignored when crosslinker concentration is above 0.3 % (total mass), and the reason was that the monomer can hardly be diffused into the microsphere phase with a certain degree of crosslinking.