Dry liquid to Pickering-type emulsion: fabrication of non-spherical environmentally friendly microcapsules

Abstract

Dry liquid was dispersed in oil to prepare water-in-oil Pickering-type emulsions. These emulsions were successfully converted into non-spherical biocompatible and degradable capsules via anionic polymerisation of butyl 2-cyanoacrylate at the water–oil interface. The non-spherical capsules were demonstrated to release rhodamine B in a controlled manner and to retain larger FITC-dextran molecules until acted upon by external ultrasound – making them ideal for prolonged encapsulation of large molecules such as enzymes.