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.