A new family of microcapsules containing photopolymerizable tripropylene glycol diacrylate (TPGDA) was synthesized by using interfacial polymerization. The release behavior of encapsulated dye could be controlled easily by changing the crosslink density of network formed from TPGDA. The chemical structure and properties of microcapsules were characterized by Fourier Transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscope, differential scanning calorimetry, optical microscope, wide angle X-ray diffraction and UV-visible spectrophotometer. The results demonstrate that the higher agitation rate results in a smaller particle size with a narrow size distribution. When core/shell ratio is low, the surface of the microcapsules becomes smooth. Additionally, it was found that UV radiation time is most effective factor to change the C-C double bond conversion ratio. After microcapsules were synthesized, the release speed could be changed according to requirement by exposing them to UV light for minutes. (C) 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 47: 3630-3639, 2009