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Developing solid-free nanoemulsions with pH responsiveness is desirable in enhanced oil recovery (EOR) applications. Here, we report the synthesis of an interfacial activity controllable surfactant (T−DBA) through dynamic imine bonding between taurine (T) and p-decyloxybenzaldehyde (DBA). Instead of macroemulsions, nanoemulsions can be prepared by using T−DBA as an emulsifier. The dynamic imine bond of T−DBA enables switching between the active and inactive states in response to pH. This switching of interfacial activity was used to gate the stability of nanoemulsions, thus enabling us to turn the nanoemulsions off and on. Using such dynamic imine bonds to govern nanoemulsion stability could enable intelligent control of many processes such as heavy oil recovery and interfacial reactions.

Herein, we describe pH and magnetism dual-responsive liquid paraffin-in-water Pickering emulsion stabilized by dynamic covalent Fe3O4 (DC-Fe3O4) nanoparticles. On one hand, the Pickerinfigureg emulsions are sensitive to pH variations, and efficient demulsification can be achieved by regulating the pH between 10 and 2 within 30 min. The dynamic imine bond in DC-Fe3O4 can be reversibly formed and decomposed, resulting in a pH-controlled amphiphilicity. The Pickering emulsion can be reversibly switched between stable and unstable states by pH at least three times. On the other hand, the magnetic Fe3O4 core of DC-Fe3O4 allowed rapid separation of the oil droplets from Pickering emulsions under an external magnetic field within 40 s, which was a good extraction system for purifying the aqueous solution contaminated by rhodamine B. The dual responsiveness enables Pickering emulsions to have better control of their stability and to be applied more broadly.

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We successfully synthesized 2-diethylaminoethanethiol (DEAET)-protected CdTe nanocrystals (CdTe-DEAET NCs) by exchanging DEAET onto 3-mercaptopropionic acid (MPA)-capped CdTe NCs (CdTe-MPA NCs) for the first time. Noticeable blue-shifts on the UV-vis absorption and photoluminescence spectra, the decrease of particle sizes and strong anodic ECL emission from CdTe-DEAET NCs were observed.