Betel essential oil-loaded lipid-core nanocapsules as mosquito repellent spray formulations for fabric finishes

In the present study, poly(epsilon-caprolactrone) nanocapsules were loaded with betel essential oil and used as anti-mosquito spray formulations for cotton and polyester fabrics for the first time. The release and retention of betel essential oil on the fabrics after sequential washing and heating were determined using UV-Visible spectrophotometry. The repellent activity of cotton and polyester fabrics was evaluated using an Excito chamber test on Aedes aegypti mosquitoes. The nanocapsules exhibited high betel essential oil encapsulation efficiency (98.70%) and remained stable throughout 60 days of colloidal system stability study. The encapsulation of betel essential oil in the lipid core of polymer nanocapsules was able to increase the durability towards washing and heating, as the fabrics still exhibited a good repellency of up to 47% against mosquitoes even after 5 sequential washing cycles. Results obtained from this study highlight the feasibility of betel essential oil-loaded lipid-core nanocapsules as alternatives to mosquito repellent spray formulations in the production of insect protective fabrics.