PRODUCTION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF POLY(ETHYLENE GLYCOL DIMETHACRYLATE-STYRENE-GLYCIDYL METHACRYLATE) MICROBEADS

Nonswellable and swellable poly(ethyleneglycol dimethacrylate)-based m icrobeads that could react directly with the biological molecules were produced by a suspension polymerization procedure. For this purpose, ethyleneglycol dimethacrylate (EGDMA) was copolymerized with glycidyl methacrylate (GMA) in an aqueous suspension medium. Benzoyl peroxide a nd poly(vinyl alcohol) were used as the initiator and the stabilizer, respectively. The copolymerization provided nonswellable, tranparent, and spherical copolymer microbeads in the size range of 100-300 mu m. On the other hand, swellable copolymer microbeads in the aqueous mediu m were obtained by using toluene as a diluent in the same copolymeriza tion recipe. In a separate group of polymerizations, styrene (St) mono mer was also included within the monomer phase to regulate the hydroph obicity of resulting microbeads. Nonswellable and swellable poly(EGDMA -St-CMA) microbeads were obtained by changing the type and concentrati on of the ingredients within the monomer phase. The effects of glycidy l methacrylate, styrene, and toluene concentrations on the microbead y ield, the average size, and the swellability of microbeads were invest igated. In the second part of the study, the interaction of produced m icrobeads with a selected enzyme (i.e., chymotrypsin) was investigated . The most stable chymotrypsin immobilization was achieved with the sw ellable poly(EGDMA)-based microbeads including styrene. (C) 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.