Photoinitiated RAFT Dispersion Polymerization: A Straightforward Approach toward Highly Monodisperse Functional Microspheres

A straightforward dispersion polymerization procedure for the synthesis of monodisperse functional polymeric microspheres is proposed in this article. This method overcomes the problems deriving from the highly sensitive nucleation stage by introducing both photoinitiation and a RAFT chain transfer agent to the reaction. The process of the formation and growth of particles in the procedure was investigated and found to be quite different from that in a traditional dispersion polymerization. Various kinds of PMMA-based functional microspheres with high size uniformity were synthesized in a single step by this strategy. The microspheres remained uniform in size, even at concentrations of cross-linker or functional comonomer up to 10 wt %.