Preparation of Flattened Cross-Linked Hollow Particles by Suspension Polymerization in a Solid Dispersion Medium

Flattened cross-linked hollow poly(divinylbenzene) (PDVB) particles with encapsulated n-hexadecane (HD) were successfully prepared through suspension polymerization using the self-assembling of phase-separated polymer (SaPSeP) method, in which the solid dispersion medium was gelled by gellan gum and compressed. The solid phase induced by gellan gum can be easily changed to a liquid state by heating, allowing the obtained particles to be easily recovered after polymerization. When the polymerization was conducted in the solid dispersion medium without compression, spherical hollow PDVB/HD composite particles were obtained. In contrast, when the polymerization was conducted with the compression of the solid dispersion medium, flattened hollow PDVB/HD composite particles were obtained. The shape of the flattened hollow polymer particles was controlled by changing the compression ratio of the solid phase, and the size could also be controlled by changing the DVB/HD droplet size using the Shirasu porous glass membrane-emulsification technique. Furthermore, flattened hollow particles larger than 20 μm in size were obtained, but it was difficult to obtain spherical hollow particles of such large size using the SaPSeP method.