Fabrication and Characterization of Monodisperse Polystyrene Latex (PSL) with Various Diameters

The focus of this study was the synthesis of polystyrene latex (PSL) particles and their diameter control for the application of aerosol filtration test. Simple emulsion polymerization was used as the method to produce uniformly spherical PSL particles. The diameter of PSL particles ranging from (160 to 941) nm was obtained by controlling the reaction parameters during the polymerization process. The reaction parameters were the concentration of styrene monomer, the concentration of potassium persulphate initiator, and the solution temperature. The diameter of PSL particles was larger as the concentration of styrene monomer, and initiator concentration increased, as analyzed from their SEM images. The higher the solution temperature, the resulting particles diameter would be smaller.