| 초록 |
Microcapsules have been applied to a wide range of products such as foods, pharmaceuticals, and cosmetics because of their characteristics of controlled release and ability to protect environmental stimuli. Many studies of liquid crystal systems have been carried out for the use in electro-optics and thermo-graphics. Especially, thermotropic liquid crystals, cholesterol-based derivatives, have been employed usefully as a substrate in intelligent drug delivery systems. However, the phase transition of liquid crystals on the outer stimuli, such as temperature and pH, can be a fatal defect in ultimate applications. In this study, we are introducing a useful liquid crystal system employing the technique of microencapsulation. However, the encapsulation of liquid crystals in the polymer substrate is typically very difficult because the intrinsic characteristics of liquid crystals disappear upon adding solvent of dilution. In order to overcome the problems, we prepared PMMA particles containing a thermotropic liquid crystal, cholesteryl nonanoate, by using suspension polymerization. The morphology and phase separation behavior of liquid crystal microcapsules produced were investigated systematically.
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