---
title: "C&EN: Easy Route to Microcapsules - Aqdot"
description: "C&EN: Easy Route to Microcapsules - Researchers at the University of Cambridge have used supramolecular host-guest chemistry"
---

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# [C&EN: Easy Route to Microcapsules - Aqdot](https://blog.aqdot.com/news/cen-easy-route-to-microcapsules)

 Written by [Aqdot](https://blog.aqdot.com/news/author/aqdot) | February 13, 2012

**C&EN: Easy Route to Microcapsules – Chemical and Engineering News**

**February 13, 2012 (p37)**

Researchers at the University of Cambridge have used supramolecular host-guest chemistry to fabricate cargo-carrying microcapsules from microfluidic droplets in a single step (Science, DOI: 10.1126/science.1215416). Oren A. Scherman, Chris Abell, and coworkers chose [cucurbit\[8\]uril](https://aqdot.com/products/advanced-academic-research/) as the host molecule because it can form a ternary complex with two guests—in this case, methyl viologen attached to gold nanoparticles and a naphthol-containing copolymer. The researchers combined individual solutions of the three components in a microfluidic device to form a single aqueous phase. The oil phase shears droplets off the aqueous phase at a T junction. As the oil phase carries the droplets through a winding channel, the components combine to form hollow micro capsules consisting of a dispersion of gold nanoparticles in a polymer mesh held together by cucurbit\[8\]uril. The size of the microcapsules ranges from 10 to 24 μm and varies with the ratio of the oil and aqueous flow rates. The researchers can load a variety of cargo—such as drugs, biological molecules, and even cells—in the microcapsules by adding a fourth solution to the aqueous phase during fabrication.

[C&EN](https://cen.acs.org/): Easy Route to Microcapsules

 

[View full post](https://blog.aqdot.com/news/cen-easy-route-to-microcapsules)

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