AbstractThe concept of physical crosslinking was introduced into the research field of oil‐absorption resins, which were traditionally synthesized only by chemical crosslinking. Specifically, the partially physical crosslinking acrylic series for high‐oil‐absorption resins were prepared in the suspension process, and the swelling behavior of the samples was observed and recorded online. This demonstrated that a kind of relaxing three‐dimensional network was indeed formed by the introduction of polybutadiene (PB). The effects of monomer feed ratios, crosslinking agent concentration and type, particle size, and temperature on the oil absorbency and oil‐absorption speed were investigated. The results indicated that there were an optimum monomer feed ratio and an optimum amount of ethylene glycol dimethacrylate or PB. In addition, the particle size and temperature had a serious influence on the oil‐absorption speed in comparison with the monomer feed ratio and the crosslinking agent concentration and type. The results also showed that particle size affected oil absorbency to a great degree and that the effect of temperature on oil absorbency was complex. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 90: 3945–3950, 2003