Production of core-shell polymer particles-containing cardanol by semibatch combined suspension/emulsion polymerization

The main objective of the present work is to study the copolymerization of cardanol and styrene for production of polymer beads intended for enzyme immobilization. Initially, free‐radical copolymerizations of cardanol and styrene were performed in suspension, showing that effective incorporation of cardanol into polystyrene chains is not possible at usual suspension polymerization conditions. Then, free‐radical copolymerizations of cardanol and styrene were performed in semibatch combined suspension/emulsion reactions, showing that cardanol can be incorporated into polystyrene chains (as confirmed through Nuclear Magnetic Resonance and Differential Scanning Calorimetry analyses) when it is fed as an emulsion constituent. In these cases, the final polymer particles presented the usual core/shell morphology, with high‐specific areas and large average pore diameters, as required by enzyme immobilization applications. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 54:1222–1229, 2014. © 2013 Society of Plastics Engineers