Microencapsulation of perfumes for application in textile industr

The objective of this thesis, developed in the framework of the ADI Project Scentfashion (TM), is the production of polyurethane]urea (PUU) microcapsules containing perfumes to be applied in the textile industry for the manufacture of perfumed suits for men.;Commercial microcapsules with different fragrances were first characterized in terms of Particle Size Distribution and morphology using a Particle Size Analyser, Optical Microscopy, and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). It was observed that they have a spherical shape with size between 2 and 6 ƒEm. Its chemical composition was checked/confirmed by Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) as based on melamine copolymers including melamine]formaldehyde ones. The effectiveness of the textiles impregnation with commercial microcapsules was tested using different impregnation conditions (microcapsules concentration and type of binder) being the best results obtained with a polyurethane]based binder. The defined experimental conditions were based on industrial requirements to simulate day]to]day wear: solidness of the perfume after 5 dry cleaning washes and 9000 abrasion cycles. These tests were done at a laboratory scale using a minifoulard. The impregnated textiles were evaluated by SEM and by Gas chromatography GC/FID/Headspace and the results showed that when using an acrylate binder, the loss of odor resulting from dry cleaning washing is around 65% against 30% when using a polyurethane binder.;Interfacial polymerization was used to produce PUU microcapsules with limonene oil and perfume as active agents for industrial application on textile substrates. Although PUU are very flexible polymers in terms of synthesis possibilities, these systems must be designed and optimized taking into consideration the particularities of the active agent to be encapsulated. In this work a general productive process was followed: (1) formation of an oil]in]water (o/w) emulsion; (2) PUU formation at the interface oil]water; (3) washing to remove the remaining excess of reactants and (4) separation and storage of microcapsules.