Environmentally biodegradable microcapsules

1. A composition comprising a microcapsule formed under basic conditions, the microcapsule comprising:

(a) a core composition comprising at least one hydrophobic active ingredient and an unreacted amount of an epoxy, an epoxide curing agent, an isocyanate, and an organofunctional silane; and

(b) a wall material surrounding a portion of the core composition, the wall material comprising:

i. one or more of a first reaction product of a first reactant comprising an amine and a second reactant which is at least one member selected from the group consisting of the epoxy, the epoxide curing agent, the isocyanate, and the organofunctional silane; and

ii. a second reaction product of the first reactant amine with a third reactant comprising a copolymer of maleic anhydride, a fourth reactant comprising a polyfunctional linker and a fifth reactant comprising a carboxy containing polysaccharide or cellulose.

2. The composition of claim 1 , wherein the wall material has an environmental biodegradability of greater than 50%.

3. The composition of claim 1 , wherein the wall material forms around the core in a one pot process.

4. The composition of claim 1 , wherein the wall material further comprises an inorganic solid particle, a polysaccharide, or a plasticizer.

5. The composition of claim 1 , wherein the microcapsule is effective to retain the at least one hydrophobic active ingredient upon exposure to water and effective to release the at least one hydrophobic active ingredient in response to friction.

6. The composition of claim 1 , wherein the amine is at least one member selected from the group consisting of: a linear aliphatic amine, an aromatic amine, a silicone amine, a branched amine, a polyamine, a polyetheramine, and an amino acid.

7. The composition of claim 1 , wherein the isocyanate is at least one member selected from the group consisting of an aliphatic isocyanate, an aromatic isocyanate, a polymeric isocyanate, a cyclic isocyanate, a hydrophilic isocyanate, a hydrophobic isocyanate, an isocyanurate, a waterborne isocyanate and a urethane acrylate containing isocyanate functionalities.

8. The composition of claim 1 , wherein the organofunctional silane is at least one member selected from the group consisting of: an alkoxylated silane, a trialkoxy silane, a functionalized trialkoxysilane, and a tetraalkoxylated silane.

9. The composition of claim 8 wherein the tetraalkoxylated silane is selected from the group consisting of a tetramethoxy silane and a tetraethoxy silane.

10. The composition of claim 1 , wherein the epoxy is at least one member selected from the group consisting of: an epoxidized unsaturated oil, an epoxidized vegetable oil, an epoxidized alcohol and an epoxidized polysaccharide.

11. The composition of claim 1 , wherein the epoxide curing agent is a low temperature curing agent having at least 2 epoxy functional groups which are terminally located and are selected from the group consisting of: a trimethylol propane triglycidyl ether, a resin containing acrylate and epoxy functional groups, a diepoxide of a cycloapliphatic alcohol, a hydrogenated Bisphenol A, and a resorcinol/bisphenol F resin with polyfunctional epoxide resin blend.

12. The composition of claim 1 , wherein the copolymer of maleic anhydride is at least one reaction product of dehydrated maleic acid with acyclic, cyclic or vinylic aromatic alkenes.

13. The composition of claim 4 , wherein the polysaccharide is at least one member selected from the group consisting of: a natural starch, a carboxy modified polysaccharide and a carboxy modified cellulose.

14. The composition of claim 1 , wherein the polysaccharide or cellulose comprises a carboxymethyl starch, a carboxymethyl chitosan, a chitosan oligosaccharide, a hydroxy propyl methyl starch, a hydroxy propyl cellulose, an ethyl cellulose, a methyl cellulose, or an octenyl succinic anhydride modified starch.

15. The composition of claim 4 , wherein the inorganic solid particle is at least one member selected from the group consisting of organically modified or water insoluble clays, minerals, and salts.

16. The composition of claim 4 , wherein the plasticizer has a molecular weight greater than 1000 Daltons, and is selected from the group consisting of methyl esters of rosin, polyazelate esters, di-fatty acid esters, citrate esters, polyadipate esters, and polyester resins consisting of inner and intra-esters of polyhydroxy carboxylic acids.

17. The composition of claim 1 , wherein the microcapsule has a diameter from 0.1 microns to less than 200 microns.

18. The composition of claim 1 , wherein the wall material comprises the first reaction product of the amine and the epoxy, the first reaction product of the amine and the isocyanate, and the first reaction product of the amine and the organofunctional silane.

19. The composition of claim 1 , wherein the polyfunctional linker comprises a member selected from the group consisting of 1,3-dibromopropane, 1,4-dibromobutane, 1,5-dibromopentane, 1,6-dibromhexane, 1,7-dibromoheptane, a dibromo isomer of cyclobutene, a dibromo isomer of cyclopentane, a dibromo isomer of cyclohexane, a dibromo isomer of cyclooctane, 1,4-butanediol diglycidyl ether, diepoxybutane, a diepoxide of unsaturated bisphenol A, a diepoxide of hydrogenated bisphenol A, castor oil glycidyl ether, and epoxidized soybean oil.

20. A method for preparing the composition of claim 1 , said method comprising a microcapsule, said method comprising the steps of:

(a) preparing an oil phase comprising at least one hydrophobic active ingredient, an isocyanate, an epoxy, an organofunctional silane, an epoxide curing agent, optionally a polysaccharide, optionally a plasticizer; and optionally an inorganic solid particle;

(b) preparing an aqueous phase comprising an emulsifier;

(c) combining the oil phase and the aqueous phase to emulsify the at least one hydrophobic active ingredient to provide an aqueous suspension of the at least one hydrophobic active ingredient;

(d) adding an amine to react with the isocyanate, the epoxy, or the organofunctional silane for about 0.5 hours at room temperature;

(e) adding a copolymer of maleic anhydride, predissolved in water and allow it to react with contents of suspension for 1 hour;

(f) adding a carboxy-modified functional polysaccharide or carboxy-modified cellulose to the suspension;

(g) increase the pH of the suspension by using sodium hydroxide; adding a polyfunctional linker to allow a carboxylate functionality from the copolymer of maleic anhydride to react with a carboxylate functionality on the carboxy-modified polysaccharide or the carboxy-modified cellulose;

(h) increasing a temperature to 60° C. and reacting for 2 to 5 hours; and

(i) adding structuring agents to the suspension of the microcapsule to homogeneously suspend the microcapsule in an aqueous dispersion.

21. The composition of claim 1 , wherein the composition is a powdered food product, a fluid food product, a powdered nutritional supplement, a fluid nutritional supplement, a fluid fabric enhancer, a solid fabric enhancer, a fluid shampoo, a solid shampoo, a hair conditioner, a body wash, a solid antiperspirant, a fluid antiperspirant, a solid deodorant, a fluid deodorant, a fluid detergent, a solid detergent, a fluid hard surface cleaner, a solid hard surface cleaner, a fluid fabric refresher spray, a diaper, an air freshening product, a nutraceutical supplement, a controlled release fertilizer, a controlled release insecticide, a controlled release dye or a unit dose detergent comprising a detergent and the microcapsule in a water soluble film.

22. The composition of claim 21 further comprising at least one suspension agent to suspend the microcapsule, wherein the at least one suspension agent is at least one member selected from the group consisting of a rheology modifier, a structurant and a thickener.

23. The method of claim 20 , further comprising adding at least one suspension agent to suspend the microcapsule, wherein the at least one suspension agent is at least one member selected from the group consisting of a rheology modifier, a structurant and a thickener.

24. The method of claim 20 wherein the emulsifier is a member selected from the group consisting of palmitamidopropyltrimonium chloride, distearyl dimonium chloride, cetyltrimethylammonium chloride, quaternary ammonium compounds, fatty amines, aliphatic ammonium halides, alkyldimethylbenzylammonium halides, alkyldimethylethylammonium halides, polyethyleneimine, poly(-dimethylamino)ethyl methacrylate)methyl chloride quaternary salt, poly(1-vinylpyrrolidone-co-2-dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate), poly(acrylamide-co-diallyldimethylammonium chloride), poly(allylamine), polybis(2-chloroethyl)ether-alt-1,3-bis(3-(dimethylamino)propylurea quaternized, poly(dimethylamine-co-epichlorohydrin-co-ethylenediamine), polyalkylene glycol ether, polyvinyl acetate, copolymers of polyvinyl acetate, polyvinyl alcohol, polyacrylamide, poly(N-isopropylacrylamide), poly (2-hydroxypropyl methacrylate), poly(-ethyl-2-oxazoline), poly(2-isopropenyl-2-oxazoline-co-methyl methacrylate), poly(methyl vinyl ether), and polyvinyl alcohol-co-ethylene), polyvinyl pyrrolidone, copolymers of polyvinylpyrrolidone, 1H-Imidazolium, 1-ethenyl-3-methyl-, chloride, polymer with 1-ethenyl-2-pyrrolidinone, vinyl acetate, hydroxypropyl methyl cellulose, and gum arabic.

25. The composition of claim 1 , wherein the wall material is a single layer membrane.