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Droplet microfluidics has enabled the synthesis of polymeric particles with controlled sizes, shell thickness, and morphologies. Here, we report the Janus to core-shell structural evolution of biphasic droplets formed in a microfluidic flow-focusing device (MFFD) for the synthesis of polymer microcapsules with oil core/thickness-tunable shell via off-chip photo- and thermally induced polymerization. First, nanoliter-sized biphasic Janus droplets comprising an acrylate monomer and silicone oil were generated in a co-flowing aqueous polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) solution in an MFFD on a glass chip. Immediately following their break-off, the produced Janus droplets started to change their geometry from Janus to core-shell structure comprising a single silicone-oil core and an acrylate-monomer shell by the minimization of interfacial energy. Thus, we could produce monodisperse core-shell drops with average diameters of 105–325 μm, coefficient of variation (CV) values of 1.0–4.5%, and shell thickness of 1–67 μm. Subsequently, these drops were synthesized to fabricate polymeric microcapsules with tunable shell thickness via photo- and thermally induced polymerization. By increasing the concentration of the photo- and thermal initiator, we successfully produced thinner and ultra-thin shell (800 nm thickness) microcapsules. The surface structure of resulting particles was smooth in photopolymerization and porous in thermal polymerization.

scientific reports

Polymer Capsules with Tunable Shell Thickness Synthesized via Janus-to-core shell Transition of Biphasic Droplets Produced in a Microfluidic Flow-Focusing Device