Sustainable preparation of surface functionalized cellulose nanocrystals and their application for Pickering emulsions

Herein, a highly efficient and sustainable approach, namely HCl-catalyzed para-toluene sulfonic acid/Formic acid (p-TsOH/FA) hydrolysis was reported to produce surface functionalized cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs). The optimized CNCs showed a high yield (79.6 %), high crystallinity (70.6 %) and high thermal stability (maximal weight loss temperature around 350 C). In addition, the as-prepared CNCs possess excellent ability to stabilize oil-water due to the introduction of functional formyl groups, which could be promising stabilizers for Pickering emulsions (PEs). At a fixed oil-water ratio (2:8, v:v), the CNCs with the concentration of 0.5 wt% to 2.0 wt% could stabilize peanut oil to make PEs, and the emulsion droplets were < 5 mu m in diameter. In addition, the stability of the PEs at different temperature, pH, ionic strength, and long storage time were studied. The results indicated that the obtained CNCs could be sustainable and superior stabilizers for PEs.

Automated summary

This study reports a highly efficient and sustainable approach to produce functionalized cellulose nanocrystals, which have excellent ability to stabilize oil-water and may serve as stabilizers for emulsions.