Study of Pickering emulsion stabilized by sulfonated cellulose nanowhiskers extracted from sisal fiber

Sulfonated cellulose nanowhiskers (sulfonated CNWs), a kind of needle-like colloidal particles, could be obtained through sulfuric acid hydrolysis of microcrystal cellulose extracted from sisal fibers. Here, stable Pickering emulsions were prepared using the sulfonated CNWs as a stabilizer. The effects of the sulfonated CNW concentration in aqueous phase, volume ratio of water to oil, oil type, and the pH value on the stability, type, and morphology of these emulsions were investigated. The average droplet size decreases with increasing sulfonated CNW concentration and volume ratio of water to oil. Many types of oil phase were stabilized by sulfonated CNWs to form stable oil-in-water (o/w) Pickering emulsion only by adjusting the pH value of water phase. In addition, poly(methyl methacrylate) PMMA/sulfnated CNW composite microspheres were fabricated by solvent volatilization of the as-prepared Pickering emulsion. Confocal laser scanning microscope (CLSM) and scanning electron microscope (SEM) studies confirmed that sulfonated CNWs adsorbed on the surface of the PMMA microparticles. With the interesting renewability and biodegradability of the sulfonated cellulose nanowhisker, these PMMA@sulfonated CNW composite microsphere could find great potential application in food, cosmetics, drug delivery, and biological tissue engineering, etc.