Preparation of monodisperse poly(styrene-co-divinylbenzene) microspheres by vibration dispersion method

Monodisperse micron-size poly(styrene-co-divinylbenzene) (PST-DVB) microspheres were successfully prepared by vibration dispersion. A vibrator was used to generate a controlled vibration to jet from a single nozzle of 200 µm to produce uniform droplets. The effects of variations in selected process parameters upon the droplets formation and the diameter of the microspheres were investigated. It was demonstrated that changes in the velocity of oil phase, drive frequency and destabilization amplitude have significant effects on the formation of uniform droplets and the average diameter of the microspheres. Rational polynomial regression equations of the above parameters were established. Based on these equations, we could calculate the operation conditions to produce uniform droplets with the desirable diameter.