Observation for mechanical property variations of single polymer particles

Monodisperse polymer particles were prepared via conventional microsuspension polymerization or one‐step seeded polymerization, using 1,6‐hexanedioldiacrylate or its mixture with ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EGDMA) as crosslinking monomer and poly(methyl methacrylate) synthesized by soap‐free polymerization as seed particles. For the study, the effects of the ratio of the absorbed monomer or monomer mixture to the seed polymer particles (swelling ratio), the ratio of EGDMA in absorbed monomer mixture, the dosage of initiator, polymer particle structure, and the electroless Ni plating on the mechanical properties of polymer particles, such as recovery rate, K‐values, breaking strength, and breaking displacement were investigated using micro compression test. It was observed that monomer swelling ratio influenced only on breaking strength, whereas EGDMA ratio in monomer mixture, dosage of initiator, polymer structure and electroless Ni plating did on both K‐values and breaking strength. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 2007