Robust and facile encapsulation using silica-polymer composites

Encapsulation is a technology that promises drastic improvement to both the economic and environmental outcomes of chemical processes. Applications, however are often limited by the cost and complexity of such schemes. This work sought to produce a simple, robust and above all versatile encapsulation technology, using hybrid core—shell polymer—silica materials, which offers improved performance in not only in current encapsulation applications, but also the potential for use in a broader range of industries. Implementation promises to dramatically expand the industrial use of selective, efficient chemical processes, providing vastly improved economic and environmental outcomes, and monumentally changing current production paradigms.