Issue 1, 2022

Engineering hybrid microgels as particulate emulsifiers for reversible Pickering emulsions

Abstract

Thermo-responsive microgels are unique stabilizers for stimuli-sensitive Pickering emulsions that can be switched between the state of emulsification and demulsification by changing the temperature. However, directly temperature-triggering the phase inversion of microgel-stabilized emulsions remains a great challenge. Here, a hybrid poly(N-isopropylacrylamide)-based microgel has now been successfully fabricated with tunable wettability from hydrophilicity to hydrophobicity in a controlled manner. Engineered microgels are synthesized from an inverse emulsion stabilized with hydrophobic silica nanoparticles, and the swelling-induced feature can make the resultant microgel behave like either hydrophilic or hydrophobic colloids. Remarkably, the phase inversion of such microgel-stabilized Pickering emulsions can be in situ regulated by temperature change. Moreover, the engineered microgels were capable of stabilizing water-in-oil Pickering emulsions and encapsulation of enzymes for interfacial bio-catalysis, as well as rapid cargo release triggered by phase inversion.

Graphical abstract: Engineering hybrid microgels as particulate emulsifiers for reversible Pickering emulsions

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Edge Article
Submitted
01 okt 2021
Accepted
29 okt 2021
First published
29 okt 2021
This article is Open Access

All publication charges for this article have been paid for by the Royal Society of Chemistry
Creative Commons BY license

Chem. Sci., 2022,13, 39-43

Engineering hybrid microgels as particulate emulsifiers for reversible Pickering emulsions

H. Jiang, S. Zhang, G. Sun, Y. Li, X. Guan, C. Yang and T. Ngai, Chem. Sci., 2022, 13, 39 DOI: 10.1039/D1SC05398A

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence. You can use material from this article in other publications without requesting further permissions from the RSC, provided that the correct acknowledgement is given.

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