Pickering Emulsions Stabilized by pH-Responsive Microgels and Their Scalable Transformation to Robust Submicrometer...

Colloidosomes are micrometer-sized hollow particles that have shells consisting of coagulated or fused colloid particles. While many large colloidosomes with sizes well above 1.0 μm have been prepared, there are fewer examples of submicrometer colloidosomes. Here, we establish a simple emulsion templating-based method for the preparation of robust submicrometer pH-responsive microgel colloidosomes. The colloidosomes are constructed from microgel particles based on ethyl acrylate and methacrylic acid with peripheral vinyl groups. The pH-responsive microgels acted as both a Pickering emulsion stabilizer and macro-cross-linker. The emulsion formation studies showed that the minimum droplet diameter was reached when the microgel particles were partially swollen. Microgel colloidosomes were prepared by covalently interlinking the microgels adsorbed at the oil-water interface using thermal free-radical coupling. The colloidosomes were prepared using a standard high-shear mixer with two different rotor sizes that corresponded to high shear (HS) and very high shear (VHS) mixing conditions. The latter enabled the construction of submicrometer pH-responsive microgel-colloidosomes on the gram scale. The colloidosomes swelled strongly when the pH increased to above 6.0. The colloidosomes were robust and showed no evidence of colloidosome breakup at high pH. The effect of solute size on shell permeation was studied using a range of FITC-dextran polymers, and size-selective permeation occurred. The average pore size of the VHS microgel-colloidosomes was estimated to be between 6.6 and 9.0 nm at pH 6.2. The microgel-colloidosome properties suggest that they have the potential for future applications in cosmetics, photonics, and delivery.