Preparation and Emulsifying Properties of Carbon-Based Pickering Emulsifier

Water is increasingly being used as a solvent in place of organic solvent in order to meet the demand for green chemical synthesis. Nevertheless, many of the reaction substrates are organic matter, which have low water solubility, resulting in a low reaction interface and limiting the development of organic-water biphasic systems. A surfactant is typically added to the two-phase system to form an emulsion to increase the contact area between the organic phase and the water. Compared to ordinary emulsion stabilized with the surfactant, Pickering emulsion offers better adhesion resistance, biocompatibility, and environmental friendliness. It possesses unrivaled benefits as an emulsifier and catalyst in a two-phase interfacial catalysis system (PIC). In this study, the amine group (NNDB) was employed to alter the surface of graphene oxide (GO). A stable Pickering emulsion was created by adsorbing GO-NNDB on the toluene-water interface. It was determined that the emulsion system had good stability by analyzing digital photographs and microscope images of droplets at various temperatures, and fluorescence microscopy images of emulsion droplets created by both newly added and recovered emulsifiers. This work provided the groundwork for future applications of Pickering emulsion in interfacial catalysis.

Automated summary

Water is increasingly being used as a solvent, replacing organic solvents, to meet the demand for green chemical synthesis. However, the low water solubility of organic matter hinders the development of organic-water biphasic systems. Adding a surfactant to the two-phase system forms a Pickering emulsion, which offers better adhesion resistance, biocompatibility, and environmental friendliness compared to regular emulsions stabilized with surfactants. This study demonstrated the stability of a Pickering emulsion created by adsorbing GO-NNDB on the toluene-water interface, providing a foundation for future applications in interfacial catalysis.