Metal Microcapsules Prepared via Electroless Plating at Liquid-Liquid Interface

We report the facile preparation of metal microcapsules via the formation of a Pickering emulsion, stabilized by catalytic palladium nanoparticles (PdNPs), and subsequent electroless plating at an oil-water interface induced by the adsorbed PdNPs. Metal microcapsules with smooth metal shells are formed by simply agitating the mixture of the plating solution and 1,2-dichloroethane containing poly(vinylpyrrolidone)-coated PdNPs, without external heating or electrical sources as energy inputs. We found that the metal microcapsules had thin copper metal shells with a relatively smooth surface and metallic luster. The metal shells were composed of more than 99 atom % copper in the form of Cu and Cu₂O. We believe that this simple metal microcapsule preparation method may be beneficial to produce novel functional microcapsules with metal shells.