Abstract
Microcapsules containing a liquid metal alloy core of gallium-indium (Ga-In) are prepared via in situ urea-formaldehyde (UF) microencapsulation. The capsule size, shape, thermal properties, and shell wall thickness are investigated. We prepare ellipsoidal capsules with major and minor diameter aspect ratios ranging from 1.64 to 1.08 and with major diameters ranging from 245 m to 3 m. We observe that as the capsule major diameter decreases, the aspect ratio approaches 1. The thermal properties of the prepared microcapsules are investigated by thermogravimetric (TGA) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Microcapsules are shown to survive incorporation into an epoxy matrix and to trigger via mechanical damage to the cured matrix. Microcapsules containing liquid metal cores may have diverse applications ranging from self-healing to contrast enhancement or the demonstration of mechano-adaptive circuitry.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 350-354 |
| Number of pages | 5 |
| Journal | Journal of Microencapsulation |
| Volume | 31 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 2014 |
Keywords
- Conductivity restoration
- Microcapsules
- Self-healing
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Pharmaceutical Science
- Colloid and Surface Chemistry
- Physical and Theoretical Chemistry
- Bioengineering
- Organic Chemistry