Synthesis of Oil Core/Polymer-Shell Particles via Miniemulsion Templating

摘要

Studies of sub-micron-sized polymer-core/shell particles, or polymer nanocapsules, where the capsule core consists of a liquid hydrocarbon are discussed. The capsules are prepared via a one-step, miniemulsion polymerization procedure. The capsule stability and the effect of droplet size and the polymer/oil interfacial tension are investigated using differential scanning calorimetry. Changes in the integrity of the polymer shell can be observed by measuring the solidus temperature of the encapsulated n-hexadecane. The type of polymer and volume of the oil droplet also affect the solidus temperature. We observe a limited agreement with the Gibbs-Thomson equation.