REACTIVE POLYMERS .25. MORPHOLOGY OF POLYMERIC SORBENTS BASED ON GLYCIDYL METHACRYLATE COPOLYMERS

Scanning electron microscopy was used to obtain basic data on the surface and internal morphology of macroporous copolymers based on glycidyl esters of methacrylic acid which are useful as chromatographic sorbents. The basic morphological units in beads consist of spherical microparticles (globules and nodules), hundredths to tenths of a micrometre in size. On the bead surface the globules are compactly arranged in the shell, owing to the surface tension in suspension copolymerization. The pores in the shell are an order of magnitude smaller than the macropores between the aggregates of globules inside the beads. With increasing content of the crosslinking agent in copolymers, the microparticles become finer and more individualized, which explains the increase in the specific surface area of the sorbents. In gas chromatography, the morphology of the sorbent preferentially determines the retention of non-polar compounds, while that of polar compounds is affected by the chemical composition of copolymers, that is, by the content of glycidyl epoxy groups in this instance. © 1979.