Polystyrene cross-linked particle

Figure 1.8 shows an electron micrograph of latex particles made from polystyrene cross-linked with divinylbenzene. Note that these latex particles are not the same as simple polystyrene molecules in a true solution. The particles shown in the figure display a remarkable degree of homogeneity with respect to particle size. Such a sample is said to be monodisperse (in size), in contrast to polydisperse systems, which contain a variety of particle sizes. We have a good... 

The first attempts to investigate the consequences of the addition of free polymer to model colloidal systems were undertaken by Sieglaff (1959). He studied microgel particles composed of polystyrene cross-linked by 0-3% divinylbenzene dispersed in toluene. Free polystyrene of weight average molecular weight 5 x 10 or 2 x 10 was dissolved into the dispersion medium. 

The effect of the chemical properties of a support on the activity of dispersed zero-valent metals has been shown [27]. Chloromethylated polystyrene, cross-linked with 4-7% DVB with high porosity and surface area (0.1 -0.03 pm particles), was functionalized by the following groups rr-donor and 7r-acceptor groups capable of forming molecular associates with the substrate hydrophobic and hydrophilic groups... 

The problem of recovering the heterogeneous catalyst after the sonication reaction in a slurry reactor (SR) is an important one on the industrial scale. In fact the breaking of the catalytic particles, due to ultrasound action, can produce a very fine powder recoverable only with difficulty by filtration, and therefore easily contaminating the reaction products. The authors of the present chapter have faced this problem for the phase transfer (PT) alkylation of phenylacetonitrile with butyl bromide (Eq. 11) using a PT catalyst supported on insoluble polystyrene cross-linked with divinylbenzene. ... 

The most common formulation of ion-exchange resins is polystyrene cross-linked with divinylbenzene. The conventional styrene-divinylbenzene copolymer forms colorless transparent particles and consists of a homogeneous polymer phase. By changing the divinylbenzene content, one can modify the three dimesional networks of the copolymers. These resins are called gel-type copolymers. 

Two classes of micron-sized stationary phases have been encountered in this section silica particles and cross-linked polymer resin beads. Both materials are porous, with pore sizes ranging from approximately 50 to 4000 A for silica particles and from 50 to 1,000,000 A for divinylbenzene cross-linked polystyrene resins. In size-exclusion chromatography, also called molecular-exclusion or gel-permeation chromatography, separation is based on the solute s ability to enter into the pores of the column packing. Smaller solutes spend proportionally more time within the pores and, consequently, take longer to elute from the column. 

A novel cross-linked polystyrene-divinylbenzene copolymer has been produced from suspension polymerization with toluene as a diluent, having an average particle size of 2 to 50 /rm, with an exclusive molecular weight for the polystyrene standard from about 500 to 20,000 in gel-permeation chromatography. A process for preparing the PS-DVB copolymer by suspension polymerization in the presence of at least one free-radical polymerization initiator, such as 2,2 -azo-bis (2,4-dimethylvaleronitrile) with a half-life of about 2 to 60 min at 70°C, has been disclosed (78). 

Modern SEC columns are packed with material other than polystyrene gels, such as porous silica particles or highly cross-linked styrene-divinylbenzene copolymers. Because of improvements in speed and resolution, the term SEC is sometimes replaced by the term high-performance size-exclusion chromatography (HPSEC). 

High-performance size exclusion chromatography is used for the characterization of copolymers, as well as for biopolymers (3). The packings for analyses of water-soluble polymers mainly consist of 5- to 10-/Am particles derived from deactivated silica or hydrophilic polymeric supports. For the investigation of organosoluble polymers, cross-linked polystyrene beads are still the column packing of choice. 

St and divinylbenzene (DVB) were polymerized in a dispersion of acryl-amide-methacrylic acid-methylenebisacrylamide terpolymer particles (25). Fine polystyrene particles were formed in/on each seed terpolymer particle. The former was smaller by about one-twentieth than the latter. The distribution of polystyrene particles depended on the cross-link density. Different amounts of St and DVB were charged in the seeded polymerization, and the resulting composite particles were used for protein adsorption measurement to assess the hydrophobicity of the particle surface. The adsorbed amount was almost proportional to the amount of St and DVB charged. In contrast, cells were less stimulated by the 5% St-containing particle than by the 0% St-containing one, that is, the seed particle. This phenomenon is attributed to selective protein adsorption on the 5% St-containing particle (26). 

The most important point about the alkyl halide reactivities in triphase catalysis is that the reactions which have the highest intrinsic rates are the most likely to be limited by intraparticle diffusion. The cyanide ion reactions which showed the greatest particle size and cross-linking dependence with 1-bromooctane had half-lives of 0.5 to 2 h and with benzyl bromide had half-lives of 0.13 to 0.75 h. The reactions of 1-bromooctane and of benzyl chloride which were insensitive to particle size and cross-linking had half-lives of 14 h and 3 h respectively. Practical triphase liquid/ liquid/solid catalysis with polystyrene-bound onium ions has intraparticle diffusional limitations. 

FIG. 1.8 Electron micrograph of cross-linked monodisperse polystyrene latex particles. The latex is a commercial product (d = 0.500 jun) sold as a calibration standard. (Photograph courtesy of R. S. Daniel and L. X. Oakford, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, CA.)... 

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