Preparation and Characterization of Functional Microcapsules Containing Suspensions of Conducting Materials

Microcapsules containing the suspension of conducting materials such as carbon nanotube (CNT) or polyaniline (PANI) were prepared by in-situ polymerization of melamine and formaldehyde. Stable microcapsules were prepared and the mean diameter of the observed microcapsules was in the range of 10-20 µm. The surface morphology and chemical structure of micro- capsules were investigated using optical microscope (OM), scanning electron microscope (SEM), and Fourier transform infra- red spectroscopy (FT-IR). The thermal properties of samples were investigated by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The con- ductivity of ruptured microcapsule containing the suspension of CNTs or PANIs in tetrachloroethylene and Isopar-G was measured. As the amount of CNTs and PANIs in the core of microcapsules increased, the measured current increased. Conductivity measurement results suggest that poly (melamine-formaldehyde) based core-shell microcapsules could be applied to self-healing electronic materials systems, where CNTs or PANIs bridge a broken circuit upon release.