A new method for preparing porous magnetic PS particles modified with EVA via a phase inversion emulsion procedure.

Magnetically assisted separation method is a rapid and easy technique based on the separation and isolation of magnetic substance by the application of an external magnetic field. However, the service life of absorbents using polystyrene as skeleton is heavily shorted by the intrinsic brittleness of polystyrene. A novel method of preparing porous magnetic polystyrene particles modified with EVA targeting to eliminate the problems of homogeneous polystyrene is described. The optimum hydrophile-lipophilic-balance (HLB) value, phase inversion temperature, and cloud point of the combined emulsifier selected in this work are analyzed and the optimized preparation conditions are determined accordingly. TEM and SEM show that the particles have a morphology structure that most of Fe3O4 particles are embedded in the interior. The dimension distribution of the pores in porous PS/EVA/Fe3O4 particles mainly belongs to mesopore. XRD indicates that the Fe3O4 particles keep their intrinsic crystal structure in the prepared porous magnetic particles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]