← Pet Pheromone Materials
Slow-Release Carriers & Microencapsulation
A pheromone is only as good as its delivery. The active is a volatile fatty-acid system: left unencapsulated in a liquid it flashes off within hours, which is why a refill that should last a month runs dry in a week. The carrier is what turns a pheromone analogue into a product with a predictable, claimable duration — and it is the single biggest lever on both cost-per-active-day and customer satisfaction.
LiiFoo supplies encapsulation and carrier systems engineered around your device: plug-in diffusers, impregnated collars, solid sachets and powders. We match the carrier to the release profile you need rather than selling a fixed catalogue part.
Carrier Technologies
| Technology | Mechanism | Best suited to |
|---|
| Cyclodextrin inclusion complex | Molecular entrapment of the fatty-acid guest inside β-CD or HP-β-CD cavity | Powders, sachets, solid diffuser matrices, wipes |
| Polymer microspheres | PLGA / PCL / ethylcellulose matrix diffusion and erosion | Long-duration collars, 30–90 day release |
| Porous inorganic carriers | Adsorption onto silica, alumina or diatomite then controlled desorption | Cost-sensitive powder formats, high loading |
| Liposomal / coacervate systems | Bilayer or coacervate shell around an oil core | Aqueous sprays needing gentle burst-then-tail release |
Technical Specifications
| Property | Cyclodextrin Complex | Polymer Microspheres |
|---|
| Active loading | 10–30% w/w | 15–40% w/w |
| Encapsulation efficiency | ≥ 85% | ≥ 90% |
| Particle size D50 | 100–300 µm (tunable) | 5–50 µm |
| Release profile | T90 30–60 days at 25 °C | T90 tunable 30–180 days |
| Moisture content | ≤ 5% | ≤ 3% |
| Bulk density | 0.35–0.6 g/cm³ | 0.4–0.7 g/cm³ |
| Carrier grade | Food/pharma-grade β-CD, HP-β-CD | Pharma-grade PLGA, PCL, ethylcellulose |
How Release Is Tuned
- Loading ratio — higher loading gives a stronger burst but a shorter tail; lower loading stretches the tail.
- Particle size — smaller particles release faster (greater surface area); larger particles hold longer.
- Matrix choice — hydrophobic matrices slow diffusion; hydrophilic matrices release faster but more evenly.
- Environmental conditions — release is temperature- and airflow-dependent, so profiles are validated against your device rather than in isolation.
Practical note: a 30-day collar claim and a 48-hour diffuser refill claim need different carriers from the same active. Send us the device, the target duration and the target temperature and we will propose a loading and particle-size window, then confirm it with an accelerated release test before scale-up.
Packaging, MOQ and Lead Time
| Item | Specification |
|---|
| Standard pack | 1 kg / 5 kg sealed foil-lined bag or HDPE container |
| MOQ | 2 kg (trial) · 10 kg (production) |
| Lead time | 15–25 days for catalogue carriers; 30–45 days for bespoke encapsulation |
| Documentation | COA, MSDS, particle-size distribution report, release-profile curve |
| Storage | Sealed, dry, 5–25 °C; 24 months unopened |
Quality and Compliance
- ISO 9001:2015 quality management system
- Carrier raw materials sourced to pharma / food grade with documentation on file
- Particle-size distribution and loading verified per batch by laser diffraction and GC
- REACH/SVHC declarations and MSDS issued per shipment