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Hollow polylactide microcapsules with controlled morphology and thermal and mechanical properties
Author(s) -
Sawalha Hassan,
Schroën Karin,
Boom Remko
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
aiche journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.958
H-Index - 167
eISSN - 1547-5905
pISSN - 0001-1541
DOI - 10.1002/aic.11895
Subject(s) - cyclohexane , crystallinity , materials science , chemical engineering , morphology (biology) , composite material , chemistry , organic chemistry , biology , engineering , genetics
Abstract Hollow polylactide microcapsules were prepared by multistage premix membrane emulsification of polylactide/dichloromethane/oil solutions in water (nonsolvent). The effects of the different oils on the morphology, thermal, and mechanical properties of the hollow microcapsules were investigated. All oils resulted in hollow microcapsules with controlled shell thickness of ∼60 nm except for eugenol, in which irregular, massive capsules were obtained. The properties of the microcapsules were strongly dependent on the oil used, for example the thermal transition temperatures found for hollow capsules were lower than for solid particles prepared without any oil. The crystallinity and transition temperatures of the capsules prepared with linear alkanes were higher than for cyclic alkanes; terpenes gave the lowest transition temperatures. The shell stiffness, measured with atomic force microscopy, was highly dependent on the oil used. Capsules prepared with dodecane showed higher stiffness (3.3 N m −1 ) than with limonene (2 N m −1 ) or cyclohexane (1.4 N m −1 ). © 2009 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 2009