Preparation and response behavior of blue electronic ink microcapsules

The blue electronic ink microcapsules containing phthalocyanine blue BGS (PB15:3) particles homodispersed in tetrachloroethylene (TCE) were prepared by in situ polymerization. The effects of the various factors, such as the type of modifier, the reaction conditions, and the concentration of surfactant in TCE, on the dispersibility of PB15:3 particles in TCE and capsule morphology and the adsorption of PB15:3 particles on internal surface of capsule wall were experimentally investigated. It was shown that using octadecylamine (ODA) to modify PB15:3 particles resulted in a significant increase of the dispersing extent (D.E) (about 4 times more than that of unmodified). The response time of particles to 0.1 V/μm dc electric field improved from 2.6 s to 0.6 s. The concentration of Span80 in TCE was no less than 0.062 mM, the adsorption of PB15:3 particles on internal surface of wall were restrained. Finally, the microcapsules in which PB15:3 particles possess reversible response to dc electric field were obtained.