Pickering Janus Emulsions Stabilized with Gold Nanoparticles

We report a modified approach to the batch scale preparation of completely engulfed core-shell emulsions or partially engulfed Janus emulsions with colorful optical properties, containing water, olive oil, and silicone oil. The in situ reduction of gold chloride, forming gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) at the olive oil interface in the absence or presence of chitosan, leads to the formation of compartmentalized olive-silicone oil emulsion droplets in water. In the absence of additional reducing components, time-dependent morphological transformations from partial engulfment to complete engulfment were observed. Similar experiments in the presence of chitosan or presynthesized AuNPs show an opposite time-dependent trend of transformation of core-shell structures into partially engulfed ones. This behavior can be understood by a time-dependent rearrangement of the AuNPs at the interface and changes of the interfacial tension. The Pickering effect of AuNPs at oil-water and oil-oil interfaces brings not only color effects to individual microdroplets, which are of special relevance for the preparation of new optical elements, but also a surprising self-assembly of droplets.

Automated summary

This study reports a modified approach for the batch scale preparation of completely engulfed core-shell emulsions or partially engulfed Janus emulsions with colorful optical properties. The in situ reduction of gold chloride at the olive oil interface leads to the formation of compartmentalized emulsion droplets in water, with time-dependent morphological transformations observed depending on the presence of chitosan or presynthesized AuNPs. The Pickering effect of AuNPs brings color effects to microdroplets and induces surprising self-assembly.