Morphology control of anisotropic nonspherical functional polymeric particles by one-pot dispersion polymerization

A feasible and versatile route for a large-scale synthesis of monodisperse nonspherical functional polymer particles by one-pot dispersion polymerization was demonstrated. The particle morphology could be precisely tuned by varying the divinylbenzene (DVB) concentration, the start feeding time of DVB, the total feeding time of DVB, the styrene (St) mass ratio of stage I/stage II, and the solvent polarity. Sphere-like, polyhedron-like, and red blood cells (RBC)-like particles with dimples or smooth surface were obtained. In addition, the formation mechanism of these nonspherical particles was ascribed to the phase separation induced by the uneven distribution of cross-linked network. Because of the incompatibility between St homopolymer chain and cross-linked network, St homopolymer chain was forced to move to those zones where the blend was allowed. The particle surface was forced to distort, leading to the formation of particles with various morphologies.