During the project execution, all the activities were carried out as planned, producing the expected results, among which the following are highlighted.
Several NCs formulations have been successfully prepared, scaled-up and selected for further developments, using two different biocompatible and biodegradable polymers, and the selected natural active principles, according to their envisaged application. The actives selection was based on the intended properties, cytotoxicity and performance.
The polymers were properly modified to enhance the encapsulation efficiency and the intended release mechanism of the active principles, achieving very promising results. Also, the scale-up of functional stable NCs based in modified polymers and optimized manufacturing protocols was assured.
Detection methods for assessing the presence of NCs, specifically on textiles, were developed. For the textiles with PCM loaded-NCs, several stability optimization tests were performed during the project, resulting in garments that can improve the thermal comfort of users facing cold or hot temperatures. For the anti-ageing NCs, containing a cocktail of vitamins and antioxidants or essential oils, the efficiency of the developed products for anti-ageing applications, both in textiles and cosmetic formulations was validated. Textiles with targeted NCs loaded with natural essential oils to prevent or even mitigate bacterial infections were validated according to ISO standards and the antimicrobial cosmetics were also proved to be efficient, when applied to volunteers’ skin.
Furthermore, the exploitation and/or commercialization strategy plan was outlined by the consortium, whereas 3 major business plans were defined for the envisaged final products: Smart nanocapsules for Textiles, Smart nanocapsules for Skin Care Cosmetic formulations and Know-how Licensing of the Nanoencapsulation Technology.
SKHINCAPS consortium followed actively its Exploitation Plan, promoting several communication and dissemination activities towards a broad dissemination of the project and the gathered outcomes. In the last month of the project, the consortium organized a workshop, in order to disseminate the achieved results and present the developed demonstrators to the community. All these communication activities were in line with the agreed methodology for the protection of the Intellectual Property Rights established. At the end of the project, the Consortium submitted a Provisional Patent Application (PPP), under the title “Capsule for functionalizing a product, method and uses thereof”, PPP 20191000048719.
