Biodegradable Polymer Microcapsules

A special issue of Polymers (ISSN 2073-4360). This special issue belongs to the section "Biomacromolecules, Biobased and Biodegradable Polymers".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 August 2023) | Viewed by 2707

Special Issue Editors


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CERENA, Chemical Engineering Department, Instituto Superior Técnico (IST), Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal
Interests: technology platform on microencapsulation and immobilization
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

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Guest Editor
Centre for Natural Resources and The Environment (CERENA), Instituto Superior Técnico da Universidade de Lisboa, 1049-001 Lisbon, Portugal
Interests: biodegradable polymers; microencapsulation; material characterization; adhesives; polymer electronics; organic photovoltaics
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Microencapsulation is a technology that has gained prominence over the years. Different microencapsulation methods have been developed to encapsulate a wide range of compounds, and they are used in several industrial fields, such as in the pharmaceutical, food, cosmetics, self-healing materials, and adhesives industries. In this context, novel microencapsulation processes must be developed, or the existing ones must be optimized, to obtain products with high added value in response to human needs.

There is increasing interest in the use of biodegradable polymers due to the negative impact of microplastics on the environment. Additionally, most biodegradable polymers can be easily excreted out of the body due to their ability to be eroded in small non-toxic residues. Therefore, biodegradable polymers could have very promising applications in synthetic microcapsule systems employed in commercial applications.

The aim of this Special Issue is to highlight the fundamental aspects and progress in the field of biodegradable polymer microcapsules with a special focus on the following topics:

  • Fundamental science for the design and functionalization of biodegradable microcapsules;
  • Methods for microcapsule production;
  • Microcapsules’ morphology;
  • Encapsulation efficiency;
  • Release kinetics and triggering mechanisms;
  • The synthesis of polymers for biodegradable microcapsules;
  • Biodegradability studies;
  • Applications of biodegradable polymer microcapsules;
  • Life cycle analysis of biodegradable microcapsules;
  • Scale-up processes of biodegradable microcapsules;
  • The data-science-assisted development of emerging biodegradable microcapsules and their applications.

Dr. Ana C. Marques
Dr. António Aguiar
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • microencapsulation
  • microcapsules
  • microspheres
  • biodegradable
  • biodegradable polymers
  • sustainability
  • data science

Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

20 pages, 12968 KiB  
Article
Biodegradable Microcapsules of Poly(Butylene Adipate-co-Terephthalate) (PBAT) as Isocyanate Carriers and the Effect of the Process Parameters
by António Aguiar, António Mariquito, Diogo Gonçalves, Isabel Pinho and Ana C. Marques
Polymers 2023, 15(3), 665; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym15030665 - 28 Jan 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2221
Abstract
Poly(butylene adipate-co-terephthalate) (PBAT), a biodegradable flexible, and tough polymer is herein used, for the first time, to encapsulate and protect isocyanate derivatives. Isocyanates are essential building blocks widely employed in the chemical industry for the production of high-performing materials. Microencapsulation of [...] Read more.
Poly(butylene adipate-co-terephthalate) (PBAT), a biodegradable flexible, and tough polymer is herein used, for the first time, to encapsulate and protect isocyanate derivatives. Isocyanates are essential building blocks widely employed in the chemical industry for the production of high-performing materials. Microencapsulation of isocyanates eliminates the risks associated with their direct handling and protects them from moisture. In light of this, and having in mind eco-innovative products and sustainability, we present a straightforward process to encapsulate isophorone diisocyanate (IPDI) using this biodegradable polymer. Spherical and core-shell microcapsules (MCs) were produced by an emulsion system combined with the solvent evaporation method. The MCs present a regular surface, without holes or cracks, with a thin shell and high isocyanate loadings, up to 79 wt%. Additionally, the MCs showed very good isocyanate protection if not dispersed in organic or aqueous solutions. Effects of various process parameters were systematically studied, showing that a higher stirring speed (1000 rpm) and emulsifier amount (2.5 g), as well as a smaller PBAT amount (1.60 g), lead to smaller MCs and narrower size distribution. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biodegradable Polymer Microcapsules)
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