Preparation of chitosan/gum Arabic nanoparticles and their use as novel stabilizers in oil/water Pickering emulsions

• Main Author: Sharkawy, Asma
• Publication Date: 2018
• Other Authors: Barreiro, M.F., Rodrigues, Alírio
• Format: Article
• Language: eng
• Source: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Download full: http://hdl.handle.net/10198/7572
• topic: Chitosan/gum Arabic nanoparticles; Nanoparticles wettability; Pickering emulsions; Rheological properties; Surfactant-free emulsions

Recently, there has been a renewed interest in Pickering emulsions owing to their surfactant-free nature, and the use of natural-based particles as stabilizers became a priority due to the applications they can enable. In this work, chitosan/gum Arabic (CH/GA) nanoparticles were synthesized and tested as novel stabilizers. Among the tested CH/GA weight ratios, the particles prepared using 1:1 ratio exhibited near-neutral wettability, an average size of 108.6 nm and a zeta potential of 56.3 mv. Pickering emulsions prepared from these particle dispersions (1.5% w/v), and high oil volume fractions (φ=0.6, 0.7), have shown high storage stability. Moreover, confocal laser scanning microscopy confirmed the o/w type and the effective adsorption of the nanoparticles at the oil/ water interface forming a barrier against droplets coalescence. The emulsions have shown shear-thinning and elastic-like behavior. These findings open new avenues for using these emulsions as novel delivery systems, e.g. in cosmetic and food applications.