Self-assembled polyoxometalates nanoparticles as pickering emulsion stabilizers.

Abstract

We easily produced a series of polyoxometalate (POM) nanoparticles by taking benefit from electrostatic attractions between various POMs and alkylammonium cations. These self-assembled supramolecular nanoparticles are fully characterized in terms of shape, nanostructure, and physicochemical properties. The nanoparticle differences are discussed on the basis of the chemical composition of the initial POM. Moreover, such particles have the ability to stabilize water-in-oil Pickering emulsions. Using a gel-trapping technique coupled to atomic force microscopy (AFM) observations, we determined their affinity toward oil by the contact angle of adsorbed nanoparticles. We show that the emulsion droplet size and stability can be directly linked to the nanoparticle hydrophobicity, which is tuned by the charge localization and molecular packing of POMs with the ammonium cations. Such particles are of special interest as they open large possibilities for Pickering interfacial catalysis.