Natural Halloysites-Based Janus Platelet Surfactants for the Formation of Pickering Emulsion and Enhanced Oil Recovery

Abstract

Janus colloidal surfactants with opposing wettabilities are receiving attention for their practical application in industry. Combining the advantages of molecular surfactants and particle-stabilized Pickering emulsions, Janus colloidal surfactants generate remarkably stable emulsions. Here we report a straightforward and cost-efficient strategy to develop Janus nanoplate surfactants (JNPS) from an aluminosilicate nanoclay, halloysite, by stepwise surface modification, including an innovative selective surface modification step. Such colloidal surfactants are found to be able to stabilize Pickering emulsions of different oil/water systems. The microstructural characterization of solidified polystyrene emulsions indicates that the emulsion interface is evenly covered by JNPS. The phase behaviors of water/oil emulsion generated by these novel platelet surfactants were also investigated. Furthermore, we demonstrate the application of JNPS for enhanced oil recovery with a microfluidic flooding test, showing a dramatic increase of oil recovery ratio. This research provides important insights for the design and synthesis of two-dimensional Janus colloidal surfactants, which could be utilized in biomedical, food and mining industries, especially for circumstances where high salinity and high temperature are involved.

Sulfur nanoparticles transform montmorillonite into an inorganic surfactant applicable in thermoplastics processing

“…With the resulting amphyphylic character, the prepared composite particles could potentially be applied as Pickering-type emulsifiers or surfactants, as they may provide a more effective stabilization alternative than molecular surfactants due to their resistance to coalescence and Ostwald-ripening [25]. According to our idea this surfactant-like amphiphilic character of the inorganic composite could be useable for further plastic applications, because it could enhance the interfacial interactions between the different polymer filler materials and the continuous polymer matrix.…”

Effect of a modified nano clay and nano graphene on rheology, stability of water-in-oil emulsion, and filtration control ability of oil-based drilling fluids: a comparative experimental approach

“…Also, by considering the curves of ES vs. temperature at both temperature ranges 90-140°F and 140-180°F, it is evident that the rate of increasing ES in the first temperature range is higher and also the rate of decreasing ES in the second range is lower for all MNC-OBDFs compared to the base fluid; hence ES of the MNC-OBDFs is thermally more stable than the base fluid which reveals MNC particles' ability for supporting the commercial emulsifiers at a variety of temperatures. Organoclays are potential additives to form pickering emulsions [65][66][67]; any emulsion stabilized by solid particles instead of surfactants [68]. Accordingly, considering the appropriate performance of MNC for better stabilization of water-in-oil emulsion in the base fluid of this study, it could probably be a suitable additive to form stable water-in-oil pickering emulsion.…”

Colloidal Nanosurfactants for 3D Conformal Printing of 2D van der Waals Materials

“…[ 20,21 ] In these surfactants, nanoparticles are engineered with functional groups on the surface via either electrostatic forces or covalent bonding, which render their ability of reducing the interfacial tension as well as stabilizing various colloidal systems. [ 21–23 ] Recently, studies on Pickering emulsions have shown that graphene, [ 24 ] MoS 2 , [ 25 ] aluminosilicate clays, [ 26,27 ] and some quantum dots (QDs) [ 28 ] are able to lower interfacial tension and show “surfactancy” upon appropriate design of their surface properties. These nanoparticle‐based surfactants retain their nanoparticle properties (e.g., electronic bandgap), which could be beneficial in overall device performance, eliminating the need of surfactant removal for final device fabrication.…”