Monitoring of the microcapsule/liposome application on textile fabrics

Abstract

In recent years, new technologies have led to the production of biofunctional textiles. These biofunctional textiles contain microscopic capsules of ingredients that break as the fabric rubs the skin, releasing the active agents. Absorption and desorption behaviour of active agents embedded into the different biofunctional textiles should be taken into account when determining the amount of active agents incorporated into these textiles and when following the delivery mechanism as the fabric comes in contact with the skin. In this work, an encapsulated active agent (a sun filter, ethyl hexyl methoxycinnamate [EHMC] into microcapsules or liposomes) was applied by foulard onto different fabrics. The amount of capsules and active agents embedded into the fibres were quantified by (1) weight difference between untreated and treated fabrics, (2) extraction with isopropanol in an ultrasound bath, or (3) extraction with isopropanol/water 50/50 in a soxhlet device. Sun filter detection of the extraction baths was followed by HPLC and by UV spectrophotometry. The results show that the real amount of the EHMC present in different textile substrates depends on the way that the active agent is trapped, the ionic character of the fibres and on the vehicles used.