Compared study of the effects of water bath, the microwave irradiation and the ultrasound irradiation on the formation of monodispersed MF spheres

Three different reaction inducing methods, namely the water bath, the microwave irradiation and the ultrasound irradiation, had been applied to the polymerization of melamine and formaldehyde for the formation of melamine formaldehyde (MF) spheres. The morphology and the size distribution of the spheres derived from the three different methods have been compared and analyzed. It has been demonstrated that the microwave irradiation and the ultrasound irradiation can induce the polymerization of the intermediate promptly and influence the solubility of the MF spheres in the chloride acid. The influences of the intermediate concentration, the pH value, the dispersant, the reaction temperature and the reaction time on the spheres size and the size distribution have also been studied.