Formation of liquid core–polymer shell microcapsules

Polymer shell microcapsules with liquid cores are used in a wide variety of industries, from food and flavour protection to inkless paper. There is a number of production methods, each with different characteristics and this article reviews a number of them. The methods considered are colloidosome formation, polymer precipitation by phase separation, polycondensation interfacial polymerisation, layer-by-layer polyelectrolyte deposition, polymer growth by surface polymerisation and copolymer vesicle formation. Each production method is described and the relative strength of each is outlined.