Pukyong National University

Pukyong National University Develops a 3D Printing？Based Platform for High-Speed, Large-Scale Production of Emulsion Microcapsules

- Enables highly uniform, continuous manufacturing, laying the groundwork for the commercialization of drug delivery systems and biocapsules

A research team led by Professor Hwang Yun-Ho (Major in Polymer Engineering) at Pukyong National University has developed a microfluidic platform capable of the large-scale production of double-emulsion？based microcapsules using 3D printing technology.

This study was conducted in collaboration with the research team of Professor Kim Dong-Pyo at POSTECH (Pohang University of Science and Technology). Going beyond conventional single-emulsion generation techniques, the work is significant in that it presents a scalable process platform for the fabrication of functional microcapsules.

An emulsion is a formulation composed of two immiscible liquids, and a conventional single emulsion is widely used in the food, cosmetics, and pharmaceutical industries. However, to fabricate microcapsules such as drug delivery carriers, functional capsules, and particles with protective layers, it is essential to produce double emulsions, which allow simultaneous control of the inner core and outer shell structures. The structural uniformity of double emulsions is a key factor that determines the size, shell thickness, and release characteristics of microcapsules.

While the conventional bulk emulsification method is advantageous for mass production, it has limitations in producing uniform microcapsules because it is difficult to precisely control the structure of double emulsions. Accordingly, recent studies have focused on using microfluidic technologies to generate uniform double emulsions and employ them as templates for microcapsule fabrication. However, existing microfluidic devices still face challenges, including low production throughput and unstable long-term operation due to issues such as non-uniform flow distribution, making sustained, stable microcapsule production difficult.

To overcome these limitations, the joint research team newly designed and fabricated a parallelized microfluidic platform using 3D printing technology. The team also developed a 3D printing？based surface treatment technique capable of producing double emulsions, which are essential for microcapsule fabrication. Because 3D printing materials are generally chemically stable, it is difficult to render their surfaces hydrophilic; however, the researchers overcame this challenge by uniformly coating the inner surfaces with silica nanoparticles under acidic and high-temperature conditions. Through this approach, they achieved, for the first time, the continuous and large-scale production of microcapsules using double emulsions on a 3D printing？based platform.

This platform enables the stable, simultaneous operation of multiple double-emulsion generators and demonstrates the mass production of microcapsules templated by double emulsions with high uniformity and reproducibility. In particular, by precisely controlling the internal core ratio and shell structure, the team has established a foundation for designing the release characteristics of microcapsules.

Professor Hwang Yun-Ho explained, “This research goes beyond the development of a microcapsule manufacturing platform. By enabling precise control over the structure and release characteristics of microcapsules, it offers both significant academic value and strong potential for commercial applications. It can be broadly applied to technologies such as drug delivery systems, bio capsules, and the encapsulation of functional materials.”

Meanwhile, the results of this study were recently published in the ‘Chemical Engineering Journal’ (IF:13.2), a top-tier international journal in the field of chemical engineering. <Pukyong Today>