Charge Density Overcomes Steric Hindrance of Ferrocene Surfactant in Switchable Oil-in-Dispersion Emulsions

A ferrocene surfactant can be switched between single and double head form (FcN(+)C(12)/Fc(+)N(+)C(12)) triggered by redox reaction. FcN(+)C(12) can neither stabilize an O/W emulsion alone nor an oil-in-dispersion emulsion in combination with alumina nanoparticles due to the steric hindrance of the ferrocene group. However, such steric hindrance can be overcome by increasing the charge density in Fc(+)N(+)C(12), so that oil-in-dispersion emulsions can be co-stabilized by Fc(+)N(+)C(12) and alumina nanoparticles at very low concentrations (1x10(-7) M (approximate to 50 ppb) and 0.001 wt %, respectively). Not only can reversible formation/destabilization of oil-in-dispersion emulsions be achieved by redox reaction, but also reversible transformation between oil-in-dispersion emulsions and Pickering emulsions can be obtained through reversing the charge of alumina particles by adjusting the pH. The results provide a new protocol for the design of surfactants for stabilization of smart oil-in-dispersion emulsions.

Automated summary

A new reversible surfactant that can stabilize oil-in-water emulsions by adjusting charge density and pH has been discovered in this study.