Production of porous suspension polymers using a continuous tubular reactor

The conventional method for the synthesis of porous crosslinked copolymer b eads is by suspension polymerisation. Suspension polymerisation reactions a re generally performed in a stirred tank, which generally results in a larg e size distribution. By careful control of the polymerisation conditions, p olymer beads can be produced using a tubular poly(tetrafluoroethylene) cont inuous reactor. Such beads are produced with the same average pore size, bu t with a lower degree of polydispersity than analogous systems produced in a batch reactor (stirred tank). This is achieved by density-matching the dr oplet and continuous phases (by the use of a brominated monomer or a poroge nic diluent) and increasing the viscosity of the monomer phase (with the ad dition of small amounts of polystyrene).