Contract Analysis | Polymers | Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM)

At our applications lab we do several analysis. We´d like to share an interesting example with you.

Microcapsules are hollow microparticles composed of a solid shell surrounding and entrapping substances in their core. They are containers that are able to release their contents when appropriate or needed and in a controlled way. There are numerous substances that can be encapsulated, such as pesticides, perfumes, API’s, dyes and pigments, flavours or food additives. It all depends on the intended application.

Microcapsules find in Textiles one of its major areas of industrial application. They started being used in textile products during the 1970’s and the range of applications increased dramatically with the technological advances. One of the applications is the dispersion of microcapsules of fragrances in woven textile fibres. Such fragrances are released when the microcapsules burst due to mechanical friction, such as rubbing.

In this study, a textile impregnated with perfume microcapsules was analysed by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) to verify the efficiency of the dispersion. The pictures below show that the microcapsules are well dispersed in between the woven fibres, with sizes ranging from approx. 5 to 50 mm.

The equipment used in this work was SEM Phenom ProX from Thermo Fisher Scientific. For more information, please click here.

Analysis reports can be prepared in English (default), Portuguese or Spanish.

Other services can be requested on demand. They include analytical methods development and validation, route cause analysis support, reverse engineering support and technical consultancy in material characterization.