Preparation of monodisperse PMMA particles by dispersion polymerization of MMA using poly(styrene-co-methacrylic acid) copolymer as a steric stabilizer

Dispersion polymerization of MMA was conducted using poly(styrene-co-methacrylic acid) copolymer as a steric stabilizer in an aqueous methanol medium. Various composition copolymers were easily prepared with a conventional radical polymerization by changing the monomer ratios of styrene to methacrylic acid, and were employed as a steric stabilizer for dispersion polymerization. The copolymers prepared with monomer ratios of 1.25–1.50 were found to be suitable steric stabilizers for dispersion polymerization. A very small amount of copolymer (0.6 wt% based on MMA) could act as a steric stabilizer effectively to obtain monodisperse PMMA particles. The particle size decreased with increasing the solvent polarity from 4 to 0.14 μm.