Porous Poly(methyl methacrylate) Microsphere via Suspension Polymerization: Synthesis, Characterizations, and the Effect of Triglycerides as Porogen

Porous microspheres with interconnected internal and external pores can provide a large specific surface area, making them excellent adsorbents for various applications such as controlled drug release, chromatography, tissue engineering scaffolds, and blood purification. Poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) has been globally utilized in many medical applications (e.g., adsorbents, drug delivery, dental implants, etc.) due to its unique properties including good thermal and chemical stability, biocompatibility, and hemocompatibility. In this work, we developed a method to prepare PMMA porous microspheres using triglycerides as porogen via suspension polymerization yielding particle size of 300-500 µm with a specific surface area as high as 281 m2×g-1. In addition, we also investigated the effect of triglycerides ranging from short-, medium-, and long-chain triglycerides as a porogen, which can influence the morphology and mechanical stability of the microspheres. The microspheres were characterized through an optical microscope and scanning electron microscope on morphology. In addition, pore size, pore volume, and specific surface area were calculated by BET method. The porosity of the microspheres was observed to be dependent on the type of triglycerides, where the short chain provided the highest porosity and the long chain provided the lowest porosity. Keywords: Porous microspheres, Poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), Triglycerides porogen, Suspension polymerization