Chitin nanocrystals (ChNCs) produced by hydrochloric acid hydrolysis of chitin were used as stabilizing agent for oil-in-water (O/W) emulsification of soybean oil (SO), acrylated soybean oil (ASO), and epoxidized soybean oil (ESO). The emulsion stability, droplet size, and rheology of the emulsion were found to be significantly affected by the oil chemical structure. Strong interaction between ChNCs and the oil droplets enhanced the stabilizing efficiency of ChNCs through a Pickering effect, resulting in emulsions with low droplet size and long-term stability.The use of ChNCs as stabilizer for O/W emulsions in replacement of synthetic surfactants opens new avenues to produce emulsions for a wide variety of applications, including cosmetic products, coating, inks and adhesives.
The potential of starch nanoparticles (SNPs) to stabilize emulsion droplets during miniemulsion polymerization was investigated. We showed that while starch nanoplatelets were not sufficient to stabilize the monomer droplets by themselves, they did provide a synergistic stabilization effect when used together with a cationic surfactant, reducing the required surfactant amount by a factor of 4. Stabilized monomer emulsion droplets remained stable throughout the polymerization reaction and did not show any sign of Ostwald ripening. Composites obtained by film-casting the dispersions showed a markedly improved mechanical performance when compared to composite films prepared by mixing an SNP suspension with a polymer emulsion followed by film casting. Based on dynamic mechanical analysis, these improvements are the result of enhanced interactions between the polymer and the SNPs.
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