COPOLYMER MICROPARTICLES SYNTEHSIS USING CONDENSED DROPLET POLYMERIZATION (CDP) TECHNIQUE
Nonspherical polymer nanoparticle is a rising field in materials science and industry. Adjustable physicochemical properties, high biocompatibility and unique morphologies of non-spherical polymer nanoparticles provide it a promising application in biomedical field including drug delivery and immune behavior research. Current manufacturing processes like 3D printing or mechanical transforming spherical particles to produce non-spherical nanoparticles are usually time-consuming and expensive. In 2022, our lab developed a novel polymer synthesis technique named Condensed Droplet Polymerization (CDP) that uses liquid phase monomer droplets condensed on surface as templates to produce dome-shape particles in situ. Particles synthesized via CDP can not only be used as a surface pattern but also individual hemispherical polymer particles when removed from the surface. CDP has been confirmed able to synthesize distinct types of polymers with different properties. In this study, CDP technique is used to synthesize copolymer particles for the first time. Two types of monomers, hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA) and divinylbenzene (DVB), were condensed at the same time as mixed droplets and polymerized them to obtain crosslinked dome-shape particles. The successful synthesis of DVB crosslinked pHEMA microparticles was proved based on chemical composition analysis, size distribution and solubility. Feasibility of controlling crosslinking degree by simply adjusting the ratio between monomer partial pressure and vapor pressure was verified. Furthermore, a hydrophobic monomer. benzyl methacrylate (BzMA), was crosslinked with DVB to testify the versatility of the process. Unique swelling behavior was observed on such copolymer, which indicates the presence of crosslinked structure, marking the success of copolymerization on different monomer combinations. Such modified CDP process for copolymer synthesis improved the diversity of polymers available in CDP, which brings more possibilities for future applications of CDP.