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-stabilize

SUBMITTER: Jiang H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8694365 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature