Preparation and Characterization of Tung Oil Loaded Melamine Formaldehyde Microcapsules

In this study microcapsules were prepared by in-situ polymerization route with melamine formaldehyde as a shell material and tung oil as core material. Melamine formaldehyde (MF), a thermosetting polymer, is one of the most widely used monomers in microencapsulation due to its superior mechanical strength and thermal stability. Tung oil contains unsaturated double bonds that can be oxidized to form a film in air. Tung oil is fast drying and biodegradable, besides it is low cost and does not pollute the environment. Most importantly, tung oil is a versatile substance in industry. Therefore, tung oil is a good choice as core material. The chemical structure of microcapsules were characterized by Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. The surface morphology and particle size and distribution were evaluated by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). The thermal behavior of microcapsules and tung oil were studied by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The results showed that the spherical microcapsules (particle size of mostly 4-5 μm) were produced with a filling content of 15.64 wt.%, and a yield of 49.78 wt.%. The microcapsules exhibit a good thermal stability