Stabilizing Pickering Emulsions with Polymer Brush-Modified Tricompartmental Anisotropic Particles: A Simulation and...

Area of Science:

• Colloid and Surface Science
• Materials Science
• Computational Chemistry

Background:

• Pickering emulsions offer a stable alternative to conventional emulsions.
• Anisotropic particles provide unique interfacial properties for emulsion stabilization.
• Controlling particle functionality is key to tailoring emulsion performance.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the influence of tricompartmental brush-modified anisotropic particles (TBPs) on oil-in-water Pickering emulsion stability.
• To explore how TBP design parameters, such as brush length, density, and surface modification, affect emulsion formation and longevity.
• To correlate simulation findings with experimental validation for a comprehensive understanding.

Main Methods:

• Dissipative Particle Dynamics (DPD) simulations were employed to model emulsion systems.
• Four distinct tricompartmental particles (TP-1 to TP-4) were designed with varying brush grafting sites.
• Polymer brush growth kinetics were simulated using surface-initiated atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) and experimentally validated.

Main Results:

• DPD simulations revealed that TBP functionality critically influences emulsion stability.
• Higher local brush densities generally enhance emulsion stability through improved interfacial wetting.
• The stability ranking of particles varied with brush density, with TBP-1 showing highest stability at high densities and TBP-3 > TBP-4 > TBP-2 > TBP-1 at lower densities.

Conclusions:

• Brush-modified TBPs are effective stabilizers for Pickering emulsions.
• Particle design, specifically brush characteristics and grafting patterns, can be optimized to control emulsion stability.
• This study provides a framework for designing functional particles for targeted emulsion applications.