Real-Time Dual-Probe Monitoring and Correlation of FBRM and PVM Measurements during PUF Microcapsule Formation

2026-01-19
Ozeroglu, Basak
Özkan, Necati
Microencapsulation enables the protection and controlled release of reactive liquids, however most characterization methods capture only endpoint properties. To address this gap, a real-time dual-probe approach using Focused Beam Reflectance Measurement (FBRM) and Particle Vision and Measurement (PVM) was employed to monitor the formation of poly(urea-formaldehyde) (PUF) microcapsules containing dicyclopentadiene (DCPD) in this study. The four-stage synthesis was tracked in situ to evaluate emulsification, shell development and UF particle deposition under different stirring rates and poly(ethylene-alt-maleic anhydride) (PEMA) concentrations. The method is applicable to capsule sizes measurable by both probes, i.e., > 10 mu m for PVM and 1-1000 mu m for FBRM. Within these ranges, the effective limitation in real-time monitoring arises from the PVM detection threshold. The results show that probe insertion introduces localized shear that influences capsule size distribution. A semiempirical power-law model was developed to reliably convert FBRM chord length data into true capsule diameters measured by PVM, using parameters derived from log-normal distribution fits. Overall, the integrated monitoring approach enhances understanding of process-structure relationships during microcapsule formation and provides a useful approach to improve microcapsule design in self-healing applications.
Citation Formats
B. Ozeroglu and N. Özkan, “Real-Time Dual-Probe Monitoring and Correlation of FBRM and PVM Measurements during PUF Microcapsule Formation,” ACS OMEGA, pp. 0–0, 2026, Accessed: 00, 2026. [Online]. Available: https://hdl.handle.net/11511/118534.