Heterophase polymerization: pressures, polymers, particles

Following the swelling of single-polymer beads and the polymerization of single-monomer droplets are unconventional methods to study heterophase polymerizations. However, the focus on the behavior of single-colloidal entities allowed surprisingly a degree of abstraction which was unattainable so far with conventional investigation strategies. The experimental results revealed an unexpected behavior of polymerizing droplets and led to the discovery of the importance of the swelling pressure for any kind of heterophase polymerization process. The action of the swelling pressure is independent of any special design of the process and only requires the coexistence of monomer and polymer in confined reaction volumes.