Institute of Physical Chemistry, RWTH Aachen University, Landoltweg 2, D-52056 Aachen, Germany.
Langmuir. 2012 Dec 18;28(50):17218-29. doi: 10.1021/la302331s. Epub 2012 Oct 17.
Recent studies revealing the unique properties of microgel-stabilized responsive emulsions are discussed, and microgels are compared to classical rigid-particle Pickering stabilizers. Microgels are strongly swollen, lyophilic particles that become deformed at the oil-water interface and protrude only a little into the oil phase. Temperature- and pH-sensitive microgels allow us to prepare temperature- and pH-sensitive emulsions and thus enable us to prepare and break emulsions on demand. Although such emulsions are sensitive to pH, the stabilization of droplets is not due to electrostatic repulsion, instead the viscoelastic properties of the interface seem to dominate droplet stability. Being soft and porous, microgels behave distinctly differently from rigid particles at the interface: they are deformed and strongly flattened especially in the case of oil-in-water emulsions. The microgels are located mainly on the water side of the interface for both oil-in-water and water-in-oil emulsions. In contrast to rigid, solid particles, the behavior of microgels at oil-water interfaces does not depend only on the interfacial tension but also on the balance among the interfacial tension, swelling, elasticity, and deformability of the microgel, which needs to be considered. It is obvious that microgels as soft, porous particles are significantly different from classical rigid colloidal stabilizers in Pickering emulsions and we suggest avoiding the term Pickering emulsion when swollen microgels are employed. Microgel-stabilized emulsions require the development of new theoretical models to understand their properties. They open the door to new sophisticated applications.
本文讨论了最近揭示微凝胶稳定响应性乳液独特性质的研究,并将微凝胶与经典刚性粒子 Pickering 稳定剂进行了比较。微凝胶是强烈溶胀的亲水性粒子,在油水界面处变形,仅略微突出进入油相。温度和 pH 敏感的微凝胶使我们能够制备温度和 pH 敏感的乳液,从而能够按需制备和破坏乳液。尽管这些乳液对 pH 敏感,但液滴的稳定不是由于静电排斥,而是界面的粘弹性似乎主导着液滴的稳定性。由于柔软多孔,微凝胶在界面上的行为与刚性粒子明显不同:它们变形并强烈扁平化,特别是在水包油乳液的情况下。对于水包油和油包水乳液,微凝胶主要位于界面的水侧。与刚性固体颗粒不同,微凝胶在油水界面的行为不仅取决于界面张力,还取决于界面张力、微凝胶的溶胀、弹性和可变形性之间的平衡,这需要考虑。显然,作为柔软多孔的颗粒,微凝胶在 Pickering 乳液中与经典刚性胶体稳定剂明显不同,我们建议在使用溶胀微凝胶时避免使用 Pickering 乳液这一术语。微凝胶稳定的乳液需要开发新的理论模型来理解它们的性质。它们为新的复杂应用开辟了道路。