Pickering Interfacial Catalysis for Biphasic Systems: From Emulsion Design to Green Reactions

Abstract

Pickering emulsions are surfactant-free dispersions of two immiscible fluids that are kinetically stabilized by colloidal particles. For ecological reasons, these systems have undergone a resurgence of interest to mitigate the use of synthetic surfactants and solvents. Moreover, the use of colloidal particles as stabilizers provides emulsions with original properties compared to surfactant-stabilized emulsions, microemulsions, and micellar systems. Despite these specific advantages, the application of Pickering emulsions to catalysis has been rarely explored. This Minireview describes very recent examples of hybrid and composite amphiphilic materials for the design of interfacial catalysts in Pickering emulsions with special emphasis on their assets and challenges for industrially relevant biphasic reactions in fine chemistry, biofuel upgrading, and depollution.

Enzyme–Polymer Conjugates as Robust Pickering Interfacial Biocatalysts for Efficient Biotransformations and One‐Pot Cascade Reactions

“…[1] Despite many advantages,t he reaction rate of such systems is limited by the small organic/aqueous interfacial area. [1] Despite many advantages,t he reaction rate of such systems is limited by the small organic/aqueous interfacial area.…”

A Simple Model for the Viscosity of Pickering Emulsions

“…The biomedical and pharmaceutical applications are discussed at length in a paper by Wu and Ma [1]. In a series of articles by Leclercq and Nardello-Rataj group [19][20][21][22], the applications of Pickering emulsions in interfacial catalysis for There has been a rapid growth of interest in nanoparticles-stabilized Pickering emulsions in recent years due to their many potential applications in industries such as: food, pharmaceutical, petroleum, biomedical, environment, cosmetics, and catalysis [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18]. A recent article by Binks [16] discusses many potential applications of Pickering emulsions.…”

“…In a series of articles by Leclercq and Nardello-Rataj group [19][20][21][22], the applications of Pickering emulsions in interfacial catalysis for biphasic systems are discussed. For example, reactions can be carried out simultaneously in both aqueous and non-aqueous phases by placing solid catalyst nanoparticles at the oil-water interface [18][19][20][21][22]. The solid nanoparticles placed at the oil-water interface serve the dual purpose of catalyst and emulsion stabilizer.…”

Tuning Amphiphilicity of Particles for Controllable Pickering Emulsion

“…The control of Pickering emulsions plays a pivotal part in many significant processes, for example, oil extraction and recovery [29,30], emulsion polymerization [31,32,33,34], and heterogeneous catalysis [35,36,37]. In this regard, many endeavors have been made in developing controllable Pickering emulsions.…”