Preparation of Pickering Emulsion of Paraffin Wax and Microspheres Using Polymer Particles as Pickering Stabilizer†

doi:10.7503/cjcu20170848

Abstract

Abstract:

Polymer particles were prepared through precipitation polymerization of trihydroxymethyl propane triacrylate(TMPTA) with 1-dodecene(DC) in binary solvent of ethanol-water(EtOH-H₂O) without any surfactant and stabilizer. The particles of P(DC-TMPTA) were used to prepare Pickering emulsion of paraffin wax in a mixture of EtOH-H₂O by simple shaking at 70 ℃, above the melting point of the wax. By rapidly cooling down the system to temperature far below the melting point of the wax, wax microspheres with narrow size distribution were obtained. The process was optimized with regard to the composition of EtOH-H₂O, shaking rate and the size of P(DC-TMPTA) particles. Morphology of the wax microspheres was examined by SEM, showing the wax spheres were covered by a layer of P(DC-TMPTA) particles. The size of the wax spheres was easily adjustable, from about 50 μm to 480 μm, by changing the shaking rate or the amount and the size of the polymer particles. This process is featured by the absence of any additives except the free radical initiator in the preparation of P(DC-TMPTA) particles. This work provides therefore a novel pathway to the fabrication of uniform and clean wax microspheres.

Key words: Precipitation polymerization, P(DC-TMPTA) particle, Pickering emulsion, Wax microsphere

CLC Number:

O631
O648.2

TrendMD:

XIAO Zuoxu, CAO Hongyan, JIANG Xubao, KONG Xiangzheng. Preparation of Pickering Emulsion of Paraffin Wax and Microspheres Using Polymer Particles as Pickering Stabilizer^†[J]. Chem. J. Chinese Universities, 2018, 39(8): 1797.

Figures/Tables 11

Fig.1 Structure illustration of closely packed uniform particles on surface of a large sized microsphere

Fig.2 SEM images of polymer particles prepared at different polymerization timePolymerization time/h: (A) 0.5; (B) 2; (C) 4; (D) 6.

Table 1 Size and distribution of P(DC-TMPTA) particles obtained at different polymerization time

Polymerization time/h	D_n/μm	PDI, D_w/D_n
0.5	1.01	1.008
2.0	1.21	1.013
4.0	1.41	1.010
6.0	1.51	1.006
8.0	1.69	1.020

Fig.3 OM pictures of wax microspheres prepared in EtOH-H2O mixture with different H2O contentContent of H2O(%): (A) 0; (B) 10; (C) 12; (D) 28.

Table 2 Experimental data of wax microspheres prepared in EtOH-H2O mixture

$w H 2 O$ /w_EtOH	D_n/μm	PDI, D_w/D_n	Wax spheres^a(%)	PPs on wax spheres^b(%)	θ/(°)	N/μm^-2
0/100	480.5	1.061	43.97	1.00	64.9	0.081
6/94	305.2	1.048	85.93	6.25	74.7	0.124
10/90	279.3	1.019	88.00	14.25	81.1	0.335
12/88	271.3	1.021	96.86	11.40	82.5	0.338
28/72	270.8	1.042	95.42	6.60	101.4	0.136
36/64	271.8	1.045	93.51	7.25	105.3	0.156

Table 2 Experimental data of wax microspheres prepared in EtOH-H2O mixture

$w H 2 O$ /w_EtOH	D_n/μm	PDI, D_w/D_n	Wax spheres^a(%)	PPs on wax spheres^b(%)	θ/(°)	N/μm^-2
0/100	480.5	1.061	43.97	1.00	64.9	0.081
6/94	305.2	1.048	85.93	6.25	74.7	0.124
10/90	279.3	1.019	88.00	14.25	81.1	0.335
12/88	271.3	1.021	96.86	11.40	82.5	0.338
28/72	270.8	1.042	95.42	6.60	101.4	0.136
36/64	271.8	1.045	93.51	7.25	105.3	0.156

Fig.4 OM pictures of wax microspheres prepared under different shaking rateShaking rate/(osc·min-1): (A) 240; (B) 280; (C) 320; (D) 360.

Table 3 Size and distribution of wax microspheres prepared under different shaking rate

Shaking rate/(osc·min^-1)	D_n/μm	PDI, D_w/D_n	N/μm^-2
200	279.3	1.019	0.335
240	186.8	1.021	0.450
280	136.4	1.019	0.563
320	103.6	1.022	0.653
360	101.4	1.037	0.654

Fig.5 OM pictures of wax microspheres prepared using polymer particles with different size as Pickering stabilizerSize/μm: (A) 1.01; (B) 1.21; (C) 1.41; (D) 1.51.

Table 4 Wax microspheres prepared with polymer particles(PPs) with different diameter

Size of PPs^a/μm	10^-11 $N p b$	D_n/μm	PDI, D_w/D_n	N/μm^-2	N_max/μm^-2	N/N_max
1.01	6.74	57.4	1.033	1.200	1.139	1.054
1.21	4.02	67.9	1.024	0.829	0.809	1.062
1.41	2.48	79.8	1.017	0.675	0.588	1.148
1.51	2.02	103.6	1.022	0.653	0.513	1.173
1.69	1.44	112.8	1.023	0.498	0.410	1.215

Table 4 Wax microspheres prepared with polymer particles(PPs) with different diameter

Size of PPs^a/μm	10^-11 $N p b$	D_n/μm	PDI, D_w/D_n	N/μm^-2	N_max/μm^-2	N/N_max
1.01	6.74	57.4	1.033	1.200	1.139	1.054
1.21	4.02	67.9	1.024	0.829	0.809	1.062
1.41	2.48	79.8	1.017	0.675	0.588	1.148
1.51	2.02	103.6	1.022	0.653	0.513	1.173
1.69	1.44	112.8	1.023	0.498	0.410	1.215

Fig.6 SEM images of wax microspheres as prepared(A) and their interior view(B)Insets are the enlarged image of the same surface and interior view.

Fig.7 Variation of interfacial adsorption energy with contact angleRatio of EtOH/H2O is 90/10; radius of microsphere r is 1.51 μm.

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