Synthesis of Multihollow Polystyrene–Poly(glycidyl methacrylate) Composite Particles by Seeded Emulsion Polymerization

Seeded emulsion polymerization is a highly efficient, eco-friendly, and scalable method for the synthesis of multihollow polymer particles. However, previous multihollow polymer particle syntheses by seeded emulsion polymerization have always required the incorporation of hydrophilic groups (with buried sulfate end groups or having hydrophilic groups throughout the polymer chains), which have obvious disadvantages in terms of convenience, cost, or the undesirable introduction of a nonionic emulsifier. In this work, multihollow polymer particles were synthesized by seeded emulsion polymerization of glycidyl methacrylate (GMA) in the presence of polystyrene (PS) seed particles swelled with dibutyl phthalate (DBP). The effects of various polymerization parameters, including the presence of DBP during the swelling stage, the presence of GMA during the swelling stage, the swelling time, and the GMA mass ratios during the swelling and polymerization stages, on the size and morphology of the resulting particles were studied. A plausible mechanism for the formation of the multihollow structure was suggested.