Biography
Biography: Raed Abu-Reziq
Abstract
Microcapsules have taken an important role in controlled release of active agents, such as drugs and agrochemicals, and enable a microenvironment for catalytic reaction. One known encapsulation process is based on silica microcapsules prepared by the sol-gel method. Sol-gel microcapsules are known to be inert, biocompatible and flexible; therefore they are commonly used in pharmaceutics and cosmetics. Many of these ingredients are water- sensitive, thus a new method for preparing a silica microcapsules is required. In our research, we focus on preparing a silica microcapsules by non-aqueous and non-hydrolytic sol-gel chemistry. To achieve that, non-aqueous emulsions are prepared using polar and non-polar organic solvent and a silane precursors that can polymerize and produce silica at the interface of the emulsion, without a hydrolysis step. The polar solvent that was chosen is ionic liquids and the silica was formed by the reaction of tetrachlorosilane with dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) or benzyl alcohol. Ionic liquids are thermally and chemically stable, not volatility and they are liquids over a wide range of temperatures and pressures. These properties make them good solvent for a broad spectrum of materials and catalytic reactions. The preparation of the silica microcapsules by non-aqueous sol-gel method, their characterization and applications will be presented.
