Preparation of double Pickering emulsions stabilized by chemically tailored nanocelluloses

Nanocelluloses are bio-based nanoparticles of interest as stabilizers for oil-in-water (o/w) Pickering emulsions. In this work, the surface chemistry of nanocelluloses of different length, nanofibrillated cellulose (NFC, long) and cellulose nanocrystals (CNC, short), was successfully tailored by chemical modification with lauroyl chloride (C12). The resulting nanofibers were less hydrophilic than the original and able to stabilize water-in-oil (w/o) emulsions. The combination of the two types of nanocelluloses (C12-modified and native) led to new surfactant-free oil-in-water-in-oil (o/w/o) double emulsions stabilized by nanocellulose at both interfaces. Characterization was performed with respect to droplet size distribution, droplet stability over time, and stability after centrifugation. Nanocellulose-based Pickering emulsions can be designed with a substantial degree of control, as demonstrated by the stability of the chemically tailored NFC double emulsions. Furthermore, it was demonstrated that increased nanofiber length leads to increased stability.