Stable, elastic and optically transparent microcapsules containing tetrachloroethylene (TCE) as internal
phase were prepared by in situ polymerization of urea–formaldehyde (UF) using the one-step method.
For the first time, sodium carboxymethyl cellulose (NaCMC) was applied into the one-step system as
a protective colloid. Microcapsules prepared under different conditions were characterized by scanning
electron microscopy, optical microscopy, and thermogravimetric analysis. The results show that NaCMC-based microcapsules can exhibit better thermal and barrier properties than Gum Arabic (GA)-based
ones. By formation of capsule wall with more compact microstructures, the NaCMC-based microcapsules
can give potential application in encapsulated electrophoretic display systems. The system combining
sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) and NaCMC together was also investigated. It is suggested that SDS can
play an important role during the microencapsulation process, by improving the yield as well as the
barrier properties of the products, but also resulting in negative effects at higher ratios of SDS-NaCMC.
Other operation conditions such as different molar ratio of reactants (formaldehyde/urea) and addition
of ammonium chloride (NH
4
Cl) were been studied as well.