Millimeter-Size Pickering Emulsions Stabilized with Janus Microparticles

Abstract

The ability to make stable water-in-oil and oil-in-water millimeter-size Pickering emulsions is demonstrated using Janus particles-particles with distinct surface chemistries. The use of a highly cross-linked hydrophobic polymer network and the excellent water-wetting nature of a hydrogel as the hydrophobic and hydrophilic sides, respectively, permit distinct wettability on the Janus particle. Glass capillary microfluidics allows the synthesis of Janus particles with controlled sizes between 128 and 440 μm and control over the hydrophilic-to-hydrophobic domain volume ratio of the particle from 0.36 to 12.77 for a given size. It is shown that the Janus particle size controls the size of the emulsion drops, thus providing the ability to tune the structure and stability of the resulting emulsions. Stability investigations using centrifugation reveal that particles with the smallest size and a balanced hydrophilic-to-hydrophobic volume ratio (Janus ratio) form emulsions with the greatest stability against coalescence. Particles eventually jam at the interface to form nonspherical droplets. This effect is more pronounced as the hydrogel volume is increased. The large Janus particles permit facile visualization of particle-stabilized emulsions, which result in a better understanding of particle stabilization mechanisms of formed emulsions.