Introduction to Micro-encapsulation
Smarter Materials are possible through microencapsulation
Microencapsulation is all about building intelligence into everyday chemicals thus giving better protection, better efficacy or better environmental release. It is like building artifical intelligence algorithms into chemicals using scientific and physical principles
Purpose of Microencapsulation is material manipulation in defined ways
Microencapsulation is a technique to encapsulate liquid, solid or gaseous compounds as a core in the inert polymeric layer known as a shell. It is an effective way to protect the core inside shell in order to extend their applications in pharmaceutical, personal care, perfumery, printing, cosmetic, agrochemical, textile, self-healing coating, catalyst, electronic ink, food additives, etc.
The final product of microencapsulation is a tiny microcapsule made up of mainly two-parts namely polymeric shell and core material. Microcapsules release their core at appropriate time by using different release mechanisms such as diffusion, pressure or shear stress, solvent action, chemical reaction, or slow disintegration.
The choice of shell and core material depends entirely on the use of microcapsules. There are different types of microencapsulation methods viz, physical and chemical method. These methods are subdivided into numbers of techniques which are categorized in the following chart
Reasons for encapsulation
There are many reasons for encapsulation of core materials
- Many substances are volatile, which can evaporate at room
temperature. Hence, they are encapsulated for extending their shelf
life. - Some flavours, essential and vitamins are encapsulated to prevent the
oxidation. - Many of the liquid active compounds unstable in open atmosphere or
unsafe to handle. Hence, they encapsulated for safe use and stability. - To separate incompatible component in mixture for functional reason.
- To mask the undesired taste or odour of the drug compounds for
improve patient compliances. It is also possible to converting liquid
drugs into free-flowing powder. - Isolating reactive materials from chemical attacks
- To control release of the active components for delayed release or
long-acting release - Encapsulation of toxic materials helps to reduced the possibility of
sensitization of user person. e.g., pesticides - To produce a targeted drug delivery system.
Want to Read More?
While there is a lot of material online for microencapsulation, a nice review is given here
Microencapsulation Review Or Review at Researchgate
These are only a few and a lot of material is available online
