Octyl methoxycinnamate (OMC) is widely used as a chemical sunscreen in sunscreen cosmetics. However, its direct contact with the skin would bring certain risks, such as skin photosensitive reaction.

How to improve the effect of skin photodamage protection has become a current research hotspot. Encapsulating ultraviolet filters into microcapsules is an interesting method to increase the photostability of filters. In this study, sodium caseinate and arabic gum are chosen as wall materials to prepare synergistic sunscreen microcapsules by complex coacervation technology. A series of experiments are conducted to investigate the effects of pH, wall material concentration, and wall/core ratio on the formation of OMC microcapsules. The morphology, composition, and stability of OMC microcapsules are characterized by scanning electron microscopy Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and thermogravimetric analysis . The OMC microcapsule is uniform in size distribution, smooth in surface morphology, and has good thermal stability. The results show that the ultraviolet absorption of the OMC microcapsules is better than that of the uncoated OMC for the ultraviolet-B (280–320 nm). Moreover, the OMC microcapsule released 40% in 12 h, while OMC released 65%, but the sun protection factor (SPF) of the OMC microcapsule sunscreen is 18.75% higher than that of OMC. This phenomenon may be attributed to the hydrophobic interaction between SC and OMC and the electrostatic interaction between SC and GA.