Suspension copolymerization of styrene/divinylbenzene with gel formation: kinetic modelling using in-line FTIR-ATR monitoring and SEC-MALLS product characterization

Experimental and theoretical studies concerning the suspension copolymerization of styrene with divinylbenzene are reported. Experiments are carried out in a batch stirred reactor, at 1.2 dm3 scale, and extended beyond gelation in order to synthesize macroporous copolymer networks with applications for many separation processesFCT (project PTDC/EQU-EQU/098150/2008 "Molecular Engineering, Synthesis and Testing of Water Compatible Smart Polymers"), European Commission – Marie Curie Actions - Nanopoly (project PITN-GA-2009-238700 "Hybrid Models for Tailoring Nano-Architectures of polymers"