Octadecyl acrylate based block and random copolymers prepared by ATRP as comb-like stabilizers for colloidal micro-particle one-step synthesis in organic solvents

Three random and three block copolymers of methyl methacrylate (MMA) and octadecyl acrylate (ODA) were synthesised by atom transfer radical polymerisation. These copolymers were assessed for their application as stabilizers in the one-step non-aqueous dispersion polymerisation of MMA in a non-polar solvent mixture of hexane and dodecane. In all cases stable spherical micro-particle colloidal dispersions were formed with particle diameters in the range of 400-2730 nm. Uniform monodisperse particles with standard deviations in size distributions of less than 5% were obtained in two cases demonstrating the utility of ODA:MMA copolymers as replacement preformed stabilizers in the one-step synthesis of MMA micro-spheres.