Visible light-based polymerization of poly (methyl methacrylate) encapsulated fragrances used for fabric softener applications

A visible-light-based photopolymerization is an attractive approach for encapsulating volatile essential oils with low aqueous solubility and stability. This research aimed to encapsulate pink fruity fragrance (PF) and white floral fragrance (WF) with poly (methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), termed respectively as PF-PMMA and WF-PMMA, through photopolymerization under blue-light emitting diodes (LEDs) exposure. The PF-PMMA and WF-PMMA were used in fabric softeners to provide a long-lasting fragrance to the fabric. The wavelength of the blue-LEDs light was 410–530 nm, while camphorquinone and ethyl 4-(dimethylamino) benzoate were used as co-photoinitiators. The effect of the mixing ratio between polymer shell and core material on particle size, conversion, and encapsulation efficiency of WF-PMMA and PF-PMMA was investigated. The size of the prepared WF-PMMA and PF-PMMA microcapsules were 3.1–3.7 µm and 2.1–2.3 µm, respectively. These microcapsules were added to fabric softeners and applied to TC fabric. The highest encapsulation efficiency and conversion of WF-PMMA and PF-PMMA were 95.7 ± 0.1 %, 93.5 ± 2.4 %, 89.4 ± 1.0 %, and 74.1 ± 4.2 %, respectively. It was also found that the fragrances remaining in the fabrics after 30 d storage was 54.3 % for PF-PMMA and 37 % for WF-PMMA. The results presented the high potential for microencapsulation of fragrances by photopolymerization to prolong the fragrance release duration.