Macroalgae-derived regenerated cellulose in the stabilization of oil-in-water Pickering emulsions

Adrian Chiong Yuh Tiong; Inn Shi Tan; Henry Chee Yew Foo; Man Kee Lam; Hisham Ben Mahmud; Keat Teong Lee

doi:10.1016/j.carbpol.2020.116875

Macroalgae-derived regenerated cellulose in the stabilization of oil-in-water Pickering emulsions

Carbohydr Polym. 2020 Dec 1:249:116875. doi: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2020.116875. Epub 2020 Aug 8.

Authors

Adrian Chiong Yuh Tiong¹, Inn Shi Tan², Henry Chee Yew Foo³, Man Kee Lam⁴, Hisham Ben Mahmud¹, Keat Teong Lee⁵

Affiliations

¹ Department of Petroleum Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Science, Curtin University Malaysia, CDT 250, 98009, Miri, Sarawak, Malaysia.
² Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Science, Curtin University Malaysia, CDT 250, 98009, Miri, Sarawak, Malaysia. Electronic address: innshitan@outlook.com.
³ Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Science, Curtin University Malaysia, CDT 250, 98009, Miri, Sarawak, Malaysia.
⁴ Chemical Engineering Department, Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS, 32610, Seri Iskandar, Perak, Malaysia; Centre for Biofuel and Biochemical Research, Institute of Self-Sustainable Building, Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS, 32610, Seri Iskandar, Perak, Malaysia.
⁵ School of Chemical Engineering, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Engineering Campus, 14300, Nibong Tebal, Penang, Malaysia.

PMID: 32933695
DOI: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2020.116875

Abstract

This study aims to derive regenerated cellulose (RC) from lignin/hemicellulose-free Eucheuma cottonii for its independent stabilization of Pickering emulsion. The RC exhibits a fibrillar morphology with diameters ranging from 17 to 157 nm and stabilizes paraffin oil-Pickering emulsions without any co-stabilizer. It was found that the emulsion stability, viscosities and viscoelasticity correlate positively with RC concentration. All emulsion samples depict gel-like behavior. Under different oil fraction at a constant RC concentration, anomalies were found in emulsion properties. This can be attributed to the aggregating behavior of RC at the oil-water interface, the degree of gel-like structure formation due to materials interaction within the emulsion system, and the variations of microscopic droplet cluster interactions under shear condition. The emulsions portrayed excellent robustness against harsh salinity, high temperature and extreme pH fluctuation. Hence, these findings had elucidated the plausibility of macroalgae-derived RC in enhanced oil recovery application.

Keywords: Enhanced oil recovery; Eucheuma cottonii; Macroalgae; Pickering emulsions; Regenerated cellulose.