Microencapsulation of essential oils by single and coaxial electrospraying in poly e-caprolactone microcapsules: characterization and oil release behavior

FRANCISCO M. PARDINI; PAULA A. FACCIA; JAVIER I. AMALVY; ALBA GONZALEZ; LOURDES IRUSTA

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF POLYMERIC MATERIALS

TAYLOR & FRANCIS AS

Lugar: Londres; Año: 2023

0091-4037

Electrospraying isa versatile, high-efficiency method for synthesizing microcapsules (MCs) withmany applications. In this study, a single and a coaxial nozzle were used toprepare poly (ε-caprolactone) (PCL) MCs. The aim of this work was toinvestigate the influence of the encapsulation technique (singleelectrospraying (SE) and coaxial electrospraying (CE)) on morphology, particlesize, chemical interactions, thermal properties, encapsulation efficiency, and releasebehavior. Thus, two natural oils with an insect-repellence effect (citronellaand eucalyptus) were encapsulated in PCL MCs by means of SE and by CE. Spectroscopy,thermal and microscopy characterizations of the MCs were performed. Oilencapsulation efficiency (EE) and release studies were also made. Spherical MCswith a mean diameter of 7–10 µm were obtained. Characterization techniquesshowed the presence of citronella and eucalyptus in the MCs and chemicalinteractions between the polymer and the oils. In addition, higherencapsulation efficiency was achieved by CE for both oils. For MCs obtained by SE,a higher mass of oil released was observed compared to the capsules obtained byCE. Two released mechanisms were obtained in the systems depending on the oilused. The possibility of using MCs with different characteristics allowsgreater versatility of the particles.