Different dispersion polymerization strategies influence the quality of fluorescent poly (St- co-GMA) microspheres.

ABSTRACT The polymerization strategy plays a vital role in the preparation of functional microspheres. In this work, fluorescent poly (styrene- co-glycidyl methacrylate) (PSt-GMA) microspheres were synthesized via one-stage and two-stage dispersion polymerization with 4-Bis(5-phenyl-1,3-oxazol-2-yl)benzene (POPOP) as fluorescence agent. SEM and DLS were adopted to characterize the properties of prepared microspheres. The UV-vis and fluorescence spectroscopy were used to analyze the mechanisms of two-stage dispersion polymerization. The experimental results showed that the size distribution and fluorescence intensity of prepared microspheres could be improved by two-stage dispersion polymerization compared to one-stage dispersion polymerization. In addition, according to UV-vis, the interactions between POPOP and Poly (N-vinyl pyrrolidone) (PVP) as well as POPOP and Glycidyl methacrylate (GMA) could affect the particle size and its distribution. UV-vis and fluorescence spectra implied that the POPOP existed outside of the particle's core via two-stage strategy. The monomer conversion of styrene was similar at the beginning of reaction; however, the monomer conversion of styrene by two-stage strategy was higher than that of by one-stage strategy. In a word, two-stage dispersion polymerization could prepare fluorescent microspheres with the monodispersion micrometer-size and high quality. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2015, 132, 41927. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]