Download CONCLUSION This study has integrated two well established

CONCLUSION
This study has integrated two well established approaches of emulsion templating
in order to produce a hydrophobic membrane which can store hydrophilic materials
and release them in a controlled fashion. The first of these approaches utilizes stable
emulsions and forfeits the dispersed droplet phase after gelating or polymerizing the
continuous phase to set it. This approach produces porous monoliths where the
removed droplets leave pores behind. Second approach sets the internal droplets by
surrounding them with a shell of solid particles or a cross linked polymer and
maintains functional individual capsules by purging the continuous phase. Here,
neither the continuous nor the dispersed phase is forfeited. Instead, they were strongly
stabilized to compose aqueous delivery capsules embedded in a hydrophobic polymer
monolith membrane. The droplets were functionalized by loading with aqueous KCOOH as
a representative anti-icing agent. The emulsion was stabilized by solid particle stabilization
method, utilizing surface modified partially hydrophobic silica nanoparticles.
Surface morphology, surface hydrophobicity and water absorption capacity are proven to
be interdependent. Hydrophobicity, water absorption behavior can be monitored through
gelling the internal phase droplets, varying internal phase volume fraction and varying
particle concentration. The wet emulsions truly serve as templates for the resultant dry
membranes since dry forms mimic the wet emulsion in terms of both morphology and water
affinity.
Withholding both the continuous and the dispersed phase, gelling the droplets and
embedding functional capsules in a monolith of an opposing chemistry are offered as
novelties for the existing particle stabilized emulsion template systems.
Apart from being utilized as surface coating membrane, the designed functionally
loaded material is promising to find future applications such as monolith scaffolds in
tissue engineering, platforms for drug delivery from a surface, tool for food processing
or coating for delivery of functional anti-icing materials. This encapsulation method is
not only applicable to store aqueous KCOOH but it can be extended to any water
soluble material.
Finally, the template emulsion can be designed to serve both as a dry membrane and
a viscous stable multiphase system to be integrated into other hydrophobic mediums
that would otherwise be incompatible with the delivery material. In order to
manipulate the affinity towards various other mediums, other polymers hydrophobic
polymers than SBS can be favored. Future work includes rheological characterization
of dry material, investigation of the rate of material delivery through the embedded
capsules and possible manipulations over it and incorporation of the viscous emulsion
to other hydrophobic mediums. Thus, the presented design