Microencapsulation is the process of packaging or coating small particles of liquids or solids with polymers. The microencapsulation process is useful for applications that require converting liquids to solids for storage purposes, separating reactive compounds and providing environmental protection.

Industries that extensively use microencapsulation technology are medical, household and personal care, pharmaceutical, agriculture, electronics, food and beverage and waste management. Microencapsulation manufacturers usually use encapsulation cases of various polymers such as plastics, fluoropolymes, gelatin and wax.

Some important parameters you must consider before you opt for microencapsulation are:

1. Application for which you require microencapsulation products
2. The encapsulation process you want to use
3. Properties of encapsulation shells: dimensions and chemical composition
4. Specifications of the material you want to encapsulate: material, size and shape and chemical properties
5. Method of releasing encapsulated material: dissolution of the capsule walls, mechanical breakage or melting
6. Minimum required life of the encapsulated coatings

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Buy microencapsulation products for medical applications

Microencapsulation techniques are extensively useful for coating various delicate medical equipment and pharmaceutical products such as tablets.

I recommend: Tef-Cap Industries, a reputable extrusions and encapsulation service provider, offers fluoropolymer encapsulation for glass medical equipment such as thermometer. Coating Place offers Wurster coating services for various pharmaceutical products and food ingredients. Montgomery Laboratories offers microencapsulated vitamins that have longer shelf life.

Find microencapsulation vendors for electronic equipment

Potting or encapsulation of electronic equipment and circuits provides protection from extreme environment conditions such as heat, moisture and vibration.

I recommend: Plasma Ruggedized Solutions, a reputable coating and laboratory service provider, offers potting or encapsulation of electronic circuitry. Capsulated Systems is a global microencapsulation manufacturer that offers corrosion resistant and heat resistant polymer microencapsulation for various electronic devices. SenDEC, a leading contract based electronic manufacturing service provider, also offers conformal coating and potting services.

Use microencapsulation for storing fragrances

You can use encapsulating shells to store fragrant ingredients. Removing the encapsulating shell releases the fragrance to its surroundings. For example, a paper with encapsulated scented ink releases the fragrance when you scratch the paper.

I recommend: Appleton, a reputable provider of coating applications and encapsulated materials, offers special fragrance encapsulated materials. Lipo Technologies is another reputable supplier that offers a wide range of encapsulation and microencapsulation services for fragrance printing, cosmetics and personal care applications and industrial applications.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Follow the manufacturers' instructions about the storing and handling of the microencapsulation agent chemicals.
• •  Different encapsulating shells activate in different environments and release the encapsulated materials. Choose the encapsulating material according to your application requirements.