Spherical permanently porous beads have been prepared by suspension co
polymerization of 2-hydroxypropyl methacrylate with dimethacrylate eat
ers in the presence of toluene as a diluent. The equilibrium swelling
study performed on the porous beads emphasized a complex mechanism of
the cross-linkings. The synthesized network samples possess cross-link
ing densities, and average molecular weights of the chains between two
junctions, which depend on the synthesis parameters. (C) 1998 Elsevie
r Science Ltd. All rights reserved.