Affiliation:
1. State Key Laboratory of Chemical Resource Engineering Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Soft Matter Science and Engineering Beijing University of Chemical Technology Beijing 100029 China
2. Beijing Engineering Research Center for the Synthesis and Applications of Waterborne Polymers Beijing University of Chemical Technology Beijing 100029 China
Abstract
AbstractUsing nanoparticle surfactants to stabilize the liquid‐liquid interface has attracted significant attention for developing all‐liquid constructs including emulsions and liquid devices. Here, an efficient strategy is demonstrated to stabilize complex emulsions that consist of multiphase droplets by using the co‐assembly between the cellulose nanocrystal and amine‐functionalized polystyrene. Cellulose nanocrystal surfactants (CNCSs) form and assembly in situ at the specified area of emulsion interface, showing a unique pH responsiveness due to their dynamic nature and allowing the reconfiguration of complex emulsion from encapsulated to Janus structures. Such complex emulsions can be further used as the templates to fabricate polymeric particles with hollow, semi‐spherical, and spherical shapes on large scale. These findings establish a promising platform for designing intelligent soft matter that can be used in microreactors, sensors, and anisotropic materials.
Funder
National Natural Science Foundation of China
Beijing Municipal Natural Science Foundation