2022 Volume 59 Issue 2 Pages 72-78
This study demonstrates encapsulation of pigments in polymer particles prepared by oil-in-oil (O/O) emulsion casting in a ternary system composed of two different polymers and an organic solvent. Acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) was used as a polymer matrix for pigment encapsulation, while polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and N-methyl pyrrolidone (NMP) were used as a phase separation polymer and solvent, respectively. Pigments I, II, and III were successfully encapsulated into the ABS polymer particles. In contrast, pigment IV failed to be encapsulated. The encapsulated particles allow to form a uniform film facilely with heat transfer press. As the surface energy of ABS is much lower than that of PVA, low surface energy pigments I, II, and III moved to the ABS/ NMP phase rather than the PVA/NMP phase in the ternary system selectively. Moreover, as the surface energy of Pigment IV was intermediate, it neither moved to the ABS/NMP phase nor the PVA/NMP phase, and the encapsulation of this pigment in ABS polymer was inefficient.
