Low-ceiling-temperature polymer microcapsules with hydrophobic payloads via rapid emulsion-solvent evaporation

Shijia Tang, Mostafa Yourdkhani, Catherine M. Possanza Casey, Nancy R. Sottos, Scott R. White, Jeffrey S. Moore

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

We report a microencapsulation procedure based on rapid solvent evaporation to prepare microcapsules with hydrophobic core materials and low-ceiling-temperature polymer shell wall of cyclic poly(phthalaldehyde) (cPPA). We use and compare microfluidic and bulk emulsions. In both methods, rapid solvent evaporation following emulsification resulted in kinetically trapped core-shell microcapsules, whereas slow evaporation resulted in acorn morphology. Through the systematic variation of encapsulation parameters, we found that polymer-to-core weight ratios higher than 1 and polymer concentrations higher than 4.5 wt % in the oil phase were required to obtain a core-shell structure. This microencapsulation procedure enabled the fabrication of microcapsules with high core loading, controlled size, morphology, and stability. This procedure is versatile, allowing for the encapsulation of other hydrophobic core materials, i.e., mineral oil and organotin catalyst, or using an alternative low-ceiling-temperature polymer shell wall, poly(vinyl tert-butyl carbonate sulfone).

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)20115-20123
Number of pages9
JournalACS Applied Materials and Interfaces
Volume9
Issue number23
DOIs
StatePublished - Jun 14 2017

Keywords

  • bulk emulsification
  • hydrophobic payloads
  • low-ceiling-temperature polymers
  • microfluidic emulsification
  • solvent evaporation

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Materials Science

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