Controllable preparation of polystyrene microspheres

Emulsifier-free polymerization approach and two-step emulsion polymerization approach were developed to fabricate highly monodisperse polystyrene (PS) spheres using potassium persulfate(KPS) as the initiator, polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) as stabilizer and sodium dodecylsulfate(SDS) as emulsifier, respectively. The effects of the dosage of initiator, stabilezer and emulsifier on diameter of the PS spheres were discussed. It was found that the size of monodisperse PS spheres tends to decrease with increase of the KPS, PVP, SDS concentration, while the distribution of PS spheres changes little. By adjusting the dosage of KPS, PVP and SDS, the size of PS spheres could be easily controlled in a wide range from 10 to 1000nm.