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Microcapsules: Packing of Emulsion Droplets: Structural and Functional Motifs for Multi‐Cored Microcapsules (Adv. Funct. Mater. 9/2011)
Author(s) -
Kim ShinHyun,
Hwang Hyerim,
Lim Che Ho,
Shim Jae Won,
Yang SeungMan
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
advanced functional materials
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 6.069
H-Index - 322
eISSN - 1616-3028
pISSN - 1616-301X
DOI - 10.1002/adfm.201190027
Subject(s) - materials science , microfluidics , template , nanotechnology , emulsion , fabrication , nanoscopic scale , photopolymer , chemical engineering , composite material , polymer , monomer , pathology , engineering , medicine , alternative medicine
Advances in microfluidic emulsification have enabled the creation of multiphase emulsion drops, which have emerged as promising templates for producing functional microcapsules. However, most previous micro‐encapsulation methods have limitations in terms of capsule stability, functionality, and simplicity of fabrication procedures. Here, we report a simple single‐step encapsulation technique that uses an optofluidic platform to efficiently and precisely encapsulate a specific number of emulsion droplets in photocurable shell droplets. In particular, we show, for the first time, that densely confined core droplets within an oily shell droplet rearrange into a unique configuration that minimizes the interfacial energy, as confirmed here from theory. These structures are then consolidated into multi‐cored microcapsules with structural and mechanical stability through in situ photopolymerization of the shell in a continuous mode, which are capable of isolating active materials and releasing them in a controlled manner using well‐defined nanohole arrays or nanoscopic silver architectures on thin membranes.