Versatile fabrication of nanocomposite microcapsules with controlled shell thickness and low permeability

Novel ethyl phenylacetate (EPA)-loaded nanocomposite microcapsules with polyurea (PU) /poly (melamine formaldehyde) (PMF) shells were facilely and fabricated: by using silica nanoparticle-stabilized oil-in-water (o/w) emulsion template and subsequent interfacial reaction and in situ polymerization. SiO2 nanoparticles absorbed at the interface between oil and water to stabilize the o/w emulsions. The oil droplets containing EPA, isophorone diisocyanate (IPDI) and tolylene 2,4-diisocyanate-terminated poly (propylene glycol) (PPG-TDI) were subsequently reacted with MF prepolymer (pre-MF) dissolved in water phases. The interfacial reaction between pre-MF and IPDI produced interior PU walls. Meanwhile, the in situ polymerization of pre-MF generated exterior PMF walls. It was found that these in/out double walls were compact together. The resulting capsules had spherical shapes and rough exterior surfaces, and could be easily isolated, dried, and redispersed in epoxy resins. The size of the produced microcapsules was dependent on the concentration of SiO2 nanoparticles. The dynamic thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) demonstrated that the capsules showed excellent thermal stability with little weight loss when exposed at 150 °C for 2 h. Interestingly, with a double PU/PMF shell, these capsules exhibited an extra-low permeability. Moreover, these microcapsules can also demonstrate exceelent magnetic responsiveness after introducing magnetic nanoparticles inside. We believe our microcapsules could be potential candidates in microcapsule engineering, self-healing composites, and drug-carrying systems.