Pickering emulsions responsive to CO₂/N₂ and light dual stimuli at ambient temperature

Jiang, Jianzhong; Ma, Yuxuan; Cui, Zhenggang; Binks, Bernard P.

Abstract

A dual stimulus-responsive n-octane-in-water Pickering emulsion with CO₂/N₂ and light triggers is prepared using negatively charged silica nanoparticles in combination with a trace amount of dual switchable surfactant, 4-butyl-4-(4-N,N-dimethylbutoxyamine) azobenzene bicarbonate (AZO-B₄) as stabilizers. On one hand, the emulsion can be transformed between stable and unstable at ambient temperature rapidly via the N₂/CO₂ trigger, and on the other hand a change in droplet size of the emulsion can occur upon light irradiation/re-homogenization cycles without changing the particle/surfactant concentration. The dual responsiveness thus allows for a precise control of emulsion properties. Compared with emulsions stabilised by specially synthesized stimuli-responsive particles or by stimuli-responsive surfactants, the method reported here is much easier and requires relatively low concentration of surfactant (≈1/10 cmc), which is important for potential applications.

Citation

Jiang, J., Ma, Y., Cui, Z., & Binks, B. P. (2016). Pickering emulsions responsive to CO₂/N₂ and light dual stimuli at ambient temperature. Langmuir : the ACS journal of surfaces and colloids, 32(34), 8668-8675. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.langmuir.6b01475

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Apr 16, 2016
• Online Publication Date: Jul 30, 2016
• Publication Date: Aug 30, 2016
• Deposit Date: Aug 12, 2016
• Publicly Available Date: Aug 12, 2016
• Journal: Langmuir
• Print ISSN: 0743-7463
• Electronic ISSN: 1520-5827
• Publisher: American Chemical Society
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 32
• Issue: 34
• Pages: 8668-8675
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.langmuir.6b01475
• Keywords: Colloid, Switchable emulsion, Dual stimuli responsive, CO₂/N₂ trigger
• Public URL: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/442137
• Publisher URL: http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.langmuir.6b01475
• Additional Information: This document is the Accepted Manuscript version of a Published Work that appeared in final form in Langmuir, copyright © American Chemical Society after peer review and technical editing by the publisher. To access the final edited and published work see http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acs.langmuir.6b01475