Synthesis of functionalized janus hybrid nanosheets for one-step construction of pickering emulsion and selective photodegradation of water-soluble dyes

Recently, Pickering emulsions stabilized by photocatalytic nanomaterials have become a hotspot in the field of catalysis due to their high interfacial activity. However, since most photocatalytic nanomaterials are extremely hydrophilic, using them as stabilizers is unconvenient for Pickering emulsions construction. Herein, a novel magnetic Janus nanosheets (JMPSN/alpha-FeOOH) with Janus SiO2 nanosheets as the carrier and iron oxyhydroxide (alpha-FeOOH) as the catalyst species, respectively, was successfully fabricated through a simple synthetic strategy, which could act as an environmental-friendly Pickering emulsion emulsifier and catalyst simultaneously. We demonstrated that JMPSN/alpha-FeOOH exhibited good emulsifying properties of various oil phases. Morever, JMPSN/alpha-FeOOH in the formed Pickering emulsion-based photocatalytic system displayed significantly enhanced photocatalytic efficiency in degradation of dyes as compared to traditional non-emulsified systems while maintaining the stability of Pickering emulsion under constant irradiation. JMPSN/alpha-FeOOH could also quickly respond to external magnetic fields so as to achieve rapid recovery of catalyst, and catalyst still showed high catalytic activity after many catalytic cycles. Finally, a convenient and promising synthesis strategy for preparing Janus catalyst with low toxicity was proposed, which provided a guidance on how to effectively use the emulsion system stabilized by Janus catalyst to improve the degradation efficiency of various pollutants.

Automated summary

Recently, Pickering emulsions stabilized by photocatalytic nanomaterials have attracted great attention in the field of catalysis due to their high interfacial activity. However, the hydrophilicity of most photocatalytic nanomaterials makes them inconvenient as stabilizers for Pickering emulsion construction. In this study, a novel magnetic Janus nanosheets (JMPSN/alpha-FeOOH) was successfully developed as an environmentally friendly Pickering emulsion emulsifier and catalyst. The JMPSN/alpha-FeOOH exhibited excellent emulsifying properties and significantly enhanced photocatalytic efficiency in degrading dyes compared to traditional non-emulsified systems, while maintaining the stability of Pickering emulsion under constant irradiation. Moreover, the JMPSN/alpha-FeOOH could quickly respond to external magnetic fields and retain high catalytic activity after multiple cycles.