Submerged electrosprays: a versatile approach for microencapsulation.

Area of Science:

• Materials Science and Engineering
• Chemical Engineering
• Biomedical Engineering

Background:

• Microencapsulation is crucial for physical and life sciences, with applications in diagnostics, imaging, gene therapy, and drug delivery.
• Existing jet-based microencapsulation methods utilize capillary or channel techniques driven by aerodynamic/pressure gradients or piezoelectricity.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore submerged electrosprays as a versatile, electric field-driven technique for producing near monodispersed microencapsulations.
• To demonstrate control over microencapsulation size and generation rate for potential biomedical and clinical applications.

Main Methods:

• Utilized submerged electrosprays, an electric field-driven jet-based technique, for microencapsulation.
• Investigated the formation of microencapsulations containing gas or micro/nanoparticulate suspensions.

Main Results:

• Successfully formed microencapsulations in the micrometer range: 65-80 µm for gas, 8-25 µm for microparticles, and 3-14 µm for nanoparticles.
• Demonstrated the ability to contain immiscible, high-viscosity particulate suspensions.
• Achieved facile control over encapsulation size and production rate.

Conclusions:

• Submerged electrosprays offer a promising route for microencapsulation, particularly for high-viscosity materials and precise size control.
• The technique's versatility and controllability suggest broad applications in materials science and biomedical fields, including the encapsulation of living organisms.