Production of porous suspension polymers using a continuous tubular reactor

The conventional method for the synthesis of porous crosslinked copolymer beads is by suspension polymerisation. Suspension polymerisation reactions are generally performed in a stirred tank, which generally results in a large size distribution. By careful control of the polymerisation conditions, polymer beads can be produced using a tubular poly(tetrafluoroethylene) continuous reactor. Such beads are produced with the same average pore size, but with a lower degree of polydispersity than analogous systems produced in a batch reactor (stirred tank). This is achieved by density-matching the droplet and continuous phases (by the use of a brominated monomer or a porogenic diluent) and increasing the viscosity of the monomer phase (with the addition of small amounts of polystyrene).