Stable Cellulose Nanofibril Microcapsules from Pickering Emulsion Templates

Electrostatic attractions are essential in any complex formation between the nanofibrils of the opposite charge for aspecific application, such as microcapsule production. Here, we used cationized cellulose nanofibril (CCNF)-stabilized Pickeringemulsions (PEs) as templates, and the electrostatic interactionswere induced by adding oxidized cellulose nanofibrils (OCNFs) at the oil-water interface to form microcapsules (MCs). Theoppositely charged cellulose nanofibrils enhanced the solidity of interfaces, allowing the encapsulation of Nile red (NR) in sunflower oil droplets. Microcapsules exhibited a low andcontrolled release of NR at room temperature. Furthermore ,membrane emulsification was employed to scale up the preparation of microcapsules with sunflower oil (SFO) encapsulated by CCNF/OCNF complex networks

Automated summary

This study demonstrates the formation of stable microcapsules through electrostatic attractions between oppositely charged nanofibrils. The encapsulation of dye in the microcapsules enables low and controlled release at room temperature.