INFLUENCE OF THE SWELLING STATE OF SEED POLYMER PARTICLES WITH MONOMER ON THE MORPHOLOGY OF MICRON-SIZED MONODISPERSED COMPOSITE POLYMER PARTICLES PRODUCED BY SEEDED POLYMERIZATION UTILIZING THE DYNAMIC SWELLING METHOD

Micron-sized monodispersed polystyrene (PS)/poly(n-butyl methacrylate) (PBMA) composite particles (PS/PBMA=2/1 by weight) having a heterogen eous structure in which many fine PBMA domains dispersed in a PS matri x near the particle surface were produced by seeded polymerization of n-butyl methacrylate (BMA) of which almost all had been absorbed by 1. 8 mu m-sized monodispersed PS seed particles utilizing the dynamic swe lling method. The morphology was varied by changing the PS/BMA ratio a nd polymerization temperature, It was concluded that the swelling stat e of 2 mu m-sized BMA-swollen PS particles in the seeded polymerizatio n process is one of the important factors to control the morphology of the composite particles.