Novel microcapsule designs and manufacturing processes

该项目旨在解决主要的工业挑战，这些挑战限制了微胶囊技术在包括油漆和涂料、家庭和个人护理、农用化学品和润滑剂等广泛领域的充分采用。理想的微胶囊通常是核壳结构，大小在微米范围内，能够在其核心内保留有价值的活性成分，如药物或香油，并以受控的方式以预定的位置和速度释放它们。为了设计高效的微胶囊系统，关键是要很好地控制微胶囊核心及其保护壳的性能，并针对其具体应用进行充分的优化。例如，这包括洗衣粉中的酶、农用化学品的杀虫剂、食品中的香料、油漆/涂料中的杀生剂和化妆品中的抗氧化剂。目前，大多数商业微胶囊是球形结构，外壳由合成或生物来源的聚合物制成。这些设计有很大的缺陷，包括：a)微胶囊外壳孔隙率往往太高，不允许在预期交付之前有效地保留有效成分--这在医疗应用中是一个巨大的挑战，以最大限度地减少药物浸出的副作用；b)微胶囊在目标表面上的沉积和保持通常太低--这导致含有香水油的微胶囊在洗衣机循环中被冲入排水口，从而可能导致水污染和所需更高的剂量(即增加的产品成本)；C)聚合物外壳通常由合成的不可回收和不可生物降解的材料制成，当它们无意中积累时会造成环境污染，这是目前日益受到监管的一个主要的环境安全问题；和d)微胶囊主要是由乳液滴形式的前体物体制造的，通常使用非常耗能和浪费的工艺来生产。如果要利用微胶囊技术的巨大潜力，解决上述重要挑战是关键：a)在农业领域中更有针对性和更有效地输送杀虫剂(包括使用更低的剂量和大幅减少副作用)，例如在治疗严重疾病方面的有效药物；以及b)在广泛的行业中开发新的解决方案，例如通过设计用于更有效的家庭绝缘的新的能量存储装置。在此基础上，我们的项目将结合英国三个最活跃的学术团体的力量和坚定承诺的主要工业合作伙伴来开发解决这些挑战的解决方案，包括：-开发一种低能耗的制造工艺，以生产微胶囊的乳液滴前体；-设计和测试一系列替代微胶囊壳无机化学物质(即非有机聚合物)，以改善目前系统的性能，包括：-更坚固和更不透气的壳，以降低壳的渗透性，从而减少包裹的活性成分的不受欢迎的淋溶(和副作用)的可能性；-更可持续和可生物降解的壳，不会滞留在它们聚集的地方；生产非球形的微胶囊，以改善它们在目标表面的沉积和保持(通过增加与表面相互作用的表面积)，从而实现更有效的使用和更低的有效成分剂量。该项目将资助3名博士后研究人员通过EPSRC从事上述各个方面的工作，学术机构和工业合作伙伴的组合将为2名博士生提供额外的资金，这些博士生也在整个项目的一部分工作。

This project aims to tackle major industrial challenges, which limit the full uptake of microencapsulation technology in a broad range of areas including paints and coatings, home and personal care, agrochemicals and lubricants to name but a few. Ideal microcapsules are typically core-shell structures, of sizes in the range of micrometres, capable of retaining valuable active ingredients such as pharmaceutical drugs or fragrance oils within their core and releasing them in a controlled manner at a location and rate that is predetermined. In order to design efficient microcapsule systems, it is critical that the properties of both microcapsule core and their protective shell are well controlled and fully optimised for their specific application. This includes for example delivery of enzymes in washing powders, of pesticides for agro-chemicals, of flavours in foods, of biocides in paints/coatings and of antioxidants in cosmetics.Currently, most commercial microcapsules are spherical structures with a shell made from synthetic or bio-sourced polymers. These designs suffer from significant drawbacks, including: a) microcapsule shell porosity is often too high and does not allow for efficient retention of the active ingredients before the intended delivery - this is a significant challenge in medical applications to minimise the side effects from leaching drugs; b) microcapsule deposition and retention on the targeted surface is often too low - this leads to a very large proportion of microcapsules containing perfume oils being washed down the drain in a washing machine cycle, thus potentially causing both water contamination and higher doses needed (i.e. increased product cost); c) polymer shells are often made from synthetic non-recyclable and non-biodegradable materials, which cause environmental pollution when they unintentionally accumulate, a major current environmental safety concern currently being increasing regulated; and d) microcapsules are mostly manufactured from precursor objects in the form of emulsion droplets, which are typically produced using very energy-intensive and wasteful processes.Addressing the important challenges above is key if the large potential of microencapsulation technology is to be harnessed a) for more targeted and more efficient delivery (including the use of much lower dosages and the drastic reduction in side effects) of pesticides in agricultural fields, potent drugs in treating serious diseases for example and b) for developing new solutions in a wide variety of industries, for example via designing new energy storage devices for more efficient home insulation.On this basis, our project will combine the strength of three of the most active UK academic groups and strongly committed key industrial partners to develop solutions to these challenges, including:- Developing a low energy manufacturing process to produce the emulsion droplet precursors to microcapsules;- Designing and testing a range of alternative microcapsule shell inorganic chemistries (i.e. not organic polymers) that improve properties of current systems, including: - More robust and less permeable shells to decrease shell permeability and thus also reduce potential for undesired leaching (and side effects) of the encapsulated active ingredients; - More sustainable and biodegradable shells that do not linger in the locations they accumulate;Producing microcapsules of non-spherical shapes to improve their deposition and retention on the targeted surfaces (through increased surface area of interaction with the surfaces), thus enabling more efficient use and lower dosages of active ingredients to be achieved.The project will fund 3 post-doctoral researchers working on the various aspects discussed above via EPSRC and a combination of the academic institutions and the industrial partners will provide additional funding for 2 PhD students also working on parts of the overall project.