Agitation requirement for synthesis of micron-sized monodisperse polymer particles in soap-free polymerization method

Single-stage polymerization recently proposed for producing micron-sized polymer particles in aqueous media by Gu, Inukai and Konno (2002) was carried out under the control of agitation with styrene monomer, an amphoteric initiator, 2,2′-azobis [N-(2-carboxyethyl)-2-methylpropionamidine] tetrahydrate and a pH buffer NH₃/NH₄Cl at a monomer concentration of 1.1 kmol/m³ H₂O, an initiator concentration of 10 mol/m³ H₂O and a buffer concentration of [NH₃] = [NH₄Cl] = 10 mol/m³ H₂O. In the polymerizations, impeller speed was ranged from 300 to 500 rpm to satisfy complete dispersion of the monomer phase and not to introduce the gas phase from the free surface. Polymerization experiments under steady agitation indicated that impeller speed was an important factor for size distribution of polymer particles. An increase in impeller speed promoted particle coagulation during the polymerization to enlarge the average size of polymer particles but widen the size distribution. To produce polymer particles with narrow size distribution, stepwise reduction in impeller speed was examined in the polymerization experiments. It was demonstrated that this method was more effective than the steady agitation. The impeller speed reduction could produce highly monodisperse particles with an average size of 2 μm and a coefficient of variation of size distributions of 2.2% that was much smaller than typical monodispersity criterion of 10%.