Double emulsion microencapsulation of ionic liquids for carbon capture

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Chemical Engineering
• Nanotechnology

Background:

• Microencapsulation of liquids is vital for applications like thermal energy storage, drug delivery, and carbon capture.
• Existing methods face challenges in creating stable and functional microcapsules for specific core materials.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a novel microencapsulation technique for pristine ionic liquids (ILs) using a double emulsion soft-template.
• To create degradable polymer shells around IL cores for enhanced functionality.

Main Methods:

• Fabrication of [IL-in-oil1]-in-oil2 (IL/O1/O2) double emulsions.
• Utilizing a CO2-derived polycarbonate, tetrathiol crosslinker, and photoinitiator in the oil interphase.
• Employing thiol-ene crosslinking upon UV irradiation to form robust polymer shells around IL droplets.

Main Results:

• Successful production of core-shell microcapsules with an ionic liquid core and a degradable polymer shell.
• Demonstrated enhanced CO2 physisorption capacity compared to bulk ionic liquids.
• Observed more rapid CO2 uptake attributed to an increased gas-liquid interface.

Conclusions:

• The double emulsion soft-template approach provides a novel route for microencapsulating functional liquids.
• The fabricated core-shell structures offer improved gas uptake capabilities.
• This method enables the creation of composite architectures with pristine cores for diverse applications in separations and gas management.