Smart magnetic ionic liquid-based Pickering emulsions stabilized by amphiphilic Fe3O4 nanoparticles: Highly efficient extraction systems for water purification

Huirong Yang; Hongxia Zhang; Junxia Peng; Yuanyuan Zhang; Guanqun Du; Yu Fang

doi:10.1016/j.jcis.2016.09.023

Smart magnetic ionic liquid-based Pickering emulsions stabilized by amphiphilic Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles: Highly efficient extraction systems for water purification

J Colloid Interface Sci. 2017 Jan 1:485:213-222. doi: 10.1016/j.jcis.2016.09.023. Epub 2016 Sep 16.

Authors

Huirong Yang¹, Hongxia Zhang², Junxia Peng³, Yuanyuan Zhang⁴, Guanqun Du⁵, Yu Fang⁶

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of Applied Surface and Colloid Chemistry of Ministry of Education, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an 710119, PR China. Electronic address: yanghuirong@snnu.edu.cn.
² Key Laboratory of Applied Surface and Colloid Chemistry of Ministry of Education, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an 710119, PR China. Electronic address: zhanghongxia@snnu.edu.cn.
³ Key Laboratory of Applied Surface and Colloid Chemistry of Ministry of Education, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an 710119, PR China. Electronic address: junxiapeng@snnu.edu.cn.
⁴ Key Laboratory of Applied Surface and Colloid Chemistry of Ministry of Education, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an 710119, PR China. Electronic address: zhangyuanyuan2013@snnu.edu.cn.
⁵ Key Laboratory of Applied Surface and Colloid Chemistry of Ministry of Education, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an 710119, PR China. Electronic address: duguanqun@snnu.edu.cn.
⁶ Key Laboratory of Applied Surface and Colloid Chemistry of Ministry of Education, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an 710119, PR China. Electronic address: yfang@snnu.edu.cn.

PMID: 27664529
DOI: 10.1016/j.jcis.2016.09.023

Abstract

This study presents the general method to formulate magnetically responsive ionic liquid (IL)-based Pickering emulsions that are stabilized by amphiphilic Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles. The magnetic nanoparticle stabilizer (MN-CHOL) was synthesized using the surface-initiated ATRP method with further modification that uses a specially designed cholesteryl derivative, and characterized by FT-IR, XPS, TGA, and magnetization measurements. It is confirmed that the resulting MN-CHOL shows a stronger interfacial activity, efficiently emulsifying C₄mim [PF₆] and water, and resultantly forming stable Pickering emulsions without the help of any co-surfactant. Due to its super paramagnetism and high saturation magnetization, MN-CHOL attached on the IL interface enables droplets of IL to be moved very conveniently on their target for as many times by an external magnetic field without demulsification, indicating high controllability and excellent stability. The resulting Pickering emulsion is a good extraction system that efficiently separates chlorobenzene, phenol, and methyl orange from aqueous solution. Subsequently, the simple magnetic separation was applied, to produce purified water due as a result of the rapid removal of organic pollutants from contaminated water.

Keywords: Extraction; Ionic liquid; Magnetically responsive; Pickering emulsion; Water purification.