Synthesis and morphology of polyethylene chains grafted onto the surface of crosslinked polystyrene microspheres

Abstract

The bifunctional comonomer 4‐(3‐butenyl) styrene was used to synthesize crosslinked polystyrene microspheres (c‐PS) with pendant butenyl groups on their surface via suspension copolymerization. Polyethylene chains were grafted onto the surface of c‐PS microspheres (PS‐g‐PE) via ethylene copolymerizing with the pendant butenyl group on the surface of the c‐PS microspheres under the catalysis of metallocene catalyst. The composition and morphology of the PS‐g‐PE microspheres were characterized by means of Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, Fourier transform Raman spectroscopy, X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and field‐emission scanning electron microscopy. It is possible to control the content of PE grafted onto the surface of c‐PS microspheres by varying the polymerization time or the initial quantity of pendant butenyl group on the surface of c‐PS microspheres. Investigation on the morphology and crystallization behavior of grafted PE chains showed that different surface patterns could be formed under various crystallization conditions. Moreover, the crystallization temperature of PE chains grafted on the surface of c‐PS microspheres was 6 °C higher than that of pure PE. The c‐PS microspheres decorated by PE chains had a better compatibility with PE matrix. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 45: 4477–4486, 2007

Amphiphilic Hollow Carbonaceous Microspheres with Permeable Shells

“…Generally, control of the surface functionality of microspheres can be realized through two main approaches. The first one, especially for polymer microspheres, is to incorporate reactive block comonomers with desired functional groups into the polymer chains during the polymerization process 5. The presence of these reactive comonomers on microsphere surfaces can alter the surface characteristics.…”

Surface Coordination Polymerization of Ethylene by Hydrozirconation‐Immobilized Metallocene

“…However, ZrC σ‐bond could not be introduced using the reported supported catalysts, such as anchoring metallocene by methylaluminoxane (MAO) or surface covalently connected with ligands, or directly immobilizing by coordinative interaction . The previous studies have demonstrated copolymerization of vinyl groups linked to various substrates (silica,[10b],[10c], carbon nanotube, clay, alumina, or PS particles) with olefin monomers to introduce grafted polyolefin chain. With these vinyl‐substrates, we believe that a well‐known Schwartz hydrozirconation will probably provide a novel method for immobilization of zirconocene (Scheme ).…”

Fabrication of Microspheres via Solvent Volatization Induced Aggregation of Self-Assembled Nanomicellar Structures and Their Use as a pH-Dependent Drug Release System

“…The first one, especially for polymer MSs, is to incorporate reactive block comonomers with desired functional groups into the polymer chains during the polymerization process. 22 The presence of these reactive comonomers on MS surfaces can alter the surface characteristics. Another commonly applied approach is chemical modification of the MS surfaces by a post-treatment process.…”

“…Generally, control of the surface functionality of MSs can be realized through two main approaches. The first one, especially for polymer MSs, is to incorporate reactive block comonomers with desired functional groups into the polymer chains during the polymerization process . The presence of these reactive comonomers on MS surfaces can alter the surface characteristics.…”