Hydrophobic agent-microcapsules

Figure 9.29 Water-repellent behavior of composite coating containing hydrophobic agent-microcapsules. (a) Copper-plating coating, (b) Composite copper-plating coat-...

The core material needs to be liquid, which makes both hydrophilic (e.g., aqueous solutions) and also hydrophobic agents (e.g., oils) suitable for the process. For an even finer release tuning, the microcapsules can be processed after their production by coating, polymerization, or crosslinking in order to adjust the properties to the desired needs. 

Figure 9.5 SEM images of copper coating containing microcapsules prepared from (a) hydrophobic agent (PVA) (b) inhibitor...

For microencapsulation by miniemulsion polymerization, oil can be a monomer and the hydrophobe can be a hquid active agent in the above-mentioned miniemulsion system. The monomer and oil are chosen in such a way that these two components are misdble before the polymerization process. As soon as polymerization takes place, phase separation occurs and at the end of polymerization microcapsules containing active agent are obtained. 

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