Porous monodisperse poly(divinylbenzene) microspheres by precipitation polymerization

The precipitation polymerization of commercial divinylbenzene in acetonitrile containing up to 40 vol. % toluene or other cosolvents is shown to produce novel porous monodisperse poly(divinylbenzene) microspheres. These microspheres have diameters between 4 and 7 μm, total pore volumes of up to 0.52 cm3/g, and surface areas of up to 800 m2/g. As no surfactant nor stabilizer was used in the preparation of these particles, their surfaces are free of any such residues. The particles were slurry‐packed into stainless steel columns for size exclusion chromatography evaluation, and the results show an exclusion limit at molecular weights of 500 g/mol. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci A: Polym Chem 36: 1543–1551, 1998