Department of Chemical Engineering, Technion─Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa 3200003, Israel.
Department of Biotechnology Engineering, ORT Braude College, Karmiel 2161002, Israel.
Langmuir. 2022 Sep 20;38(37):11171-11179. doi: 10.1021/acs.langmuir.2c00947. Epub 2022 Sep 7.
Cellulose is a renewable biopolymer, abundant on Earth, with a multi-level supramolecular structure. There has been significant interest and advancement in utilizing natural cellulose to stabilize emulsions. In our research, we develop and examine oil in water emulsions surrounded by unmodified cellulose as microreactors for the process of transformation of cellulose into valuable chemicals such as biodiesel. This study presents morphological characterization of cellulose-coated emulsions that can be used for such purposes. Cryogenic-scanning electron microscopy imaging along with light microscopy and light scattering reveals a multi-layer inner structure: an oil core surrounded by a porous cellulose hydrogel shell, coated by an outer shell of regenerated cellulose. Measurements of small-angle X-ray scattering provide quantification of the nano-scale structure within the porous cellulose hydrogel inner shell of the emulsion particle. These characteristics are relevant to utilization of cellulose-coated emulsions in various applications such as controlled release and as hosts for enzymatic biotechnological reactions.
纤维素是一种可再生的生物聚合物，在地球上含量丰富，具有多层次的超分子结构。利用天然纤维素来稳定乳液已经引起了广泛的关注和研究进展。在我们的研究中，我们开发并研究了由未改性纤维素包围的油包水乳状液作为将纤维素转化为有价值的化学品（如生物柴油）的转化过程中的微反应器。本研究对可用于此类目的的纤维素包覆乳液进行了形态学表征。低温扫描电子显微镜成像以及光学显微镜和光散射揭示了一种多层的内部结构：油芯被多孔纤维素水凝胶壳包围，再由再生纤维素的外壳包覆。小角 X 射线散射的测量提供了乳液颗粒多孔纤维素水凝胶内层纳米级结构的定量信息。这些特性与纤维素包覆乳液在各种应用中的利用有关，例如控制释放和作为酶生物技术反应的宿主。
