Journal article
Liquid marble formation and solvent vapor treatment of the biodegradable polymers polylactic acid and polycaprolactone
C Schmücker, GW Stevens, KA Mumford
Journal of Colloid and Interface Science | ACADEMIC PRESS INC ELSEVIER SCIENCE | Published : 2018
Abstract
Liquid Marbles were produced by rolling aqueous droplets on a powder bed of biodegradable polymers, namely polylactic acid (PLA), polycaprolactone (PCL) and blends of these. Solvent vapor treatment was subsequently applied with dichloromethane (DCM). This treatment aligned the polymer chains in order to form a smooth polymeric shell with enhanced mechanical and barrier properties. Whilst a wide range of potential applications for Liquid Marbles exists, the aim here is to encapsulate a solution containing a fertilizer, i.e. urea to produce a controlled release fertilizer. The influences of droplet volume, polymer particle size and solvent vapor treatment time on the liquid marble properties w..
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Grants
Awarded by Australia-China Joint Research Centre - Healthy Soils for Sustainable Food Production and Environmental Quality
Awarded by Australian Resesarch Council Linkage Grant
Awarded by Australian Research Council
Funding Acknowledgements
We want to kindly thank the Bio21 institute of Melbourne, Australia, for collaboration in conducting the SEM measurements, the Particulate Fluids Processing Centre, a Special Research Centre of the Australian Research Centre for access to equipment, the Australia-China Joint Research Centre - Healthy Soils for Sustainable Food Production and Environmental Quality (ACSRF48165) and the Australian Resesarch Council Linkage Grant LP160101417. Furthermore we thank Perstorp from Sweden for providing the PCL samples, Micropowders from the United States for providing the PLA samples and Industrial Netting from the United States for providing the PTFE mesh as well as their coworkers for the outstanding cooperation. The author would also like to thank Prof. Kai-Olaf Hinrichsen from the Technical University of Munich for the great mentoring and support.