Preparation of Uniform-Sized Poly[methacryloxypropyl Tris(trimethylsiloxy)silane] Microspheres via Shirasu Porous Glass Membrane Emulsification Technique

We have successfully prepared monodisperse poly[methacryloxypropyl Tris(trimethylsiloxy)silane] (poly-TRIS) microspheres by employing the Shirasu porous glass (SPG) membrane emulsification technique. The preparation was carried out by preparing TRIS monomer-contained oil-in-water (O/W) emulsions first and exposing to UV-irradiation subsequently to polymerize the emulsions, and poly-TRIS microspheres were formed eventually. The optimized surfactant used in this study was sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), an anionic surfactant which facilitates the formation of uniform monodisperse TRIS emulsions. The diameter and size distribution of the TRIS emulsions and poly-TRIS microspheres could be strictly controlled due to the narrow pores size distribution feature of SPG membrane. By varying the SPG membrane pore sizes from 0.5 to 5 µm, the average diameter of the resulting poly-TRIS microspheres ranged from 1.42 to 12.31 µm with coefficient of variation (CV) less than 12%.