Poly(divinylbenzene-alt-maleic anhydride) Microgels: Intermediates to Microspheres and Macrogels in Cross-Linking Copolymerization

Three distinct copolymer morphologies were observed during the cross-linking copolymerization of divinylbenzene-55 and maleic anhydride at low monomer concentrations in methyl ethyl ketone/heptane mixtures: microspheres, microgels, and macrogels. These morphologies depended primarily upon solvent composition and changed from microspheres and microgels to macrogels with increasing methyl ethyl ketone volume fractions. The effects of solvent …