Natural cellulose has been used as a coating to stabilize oil-in-water (o/w) emulsions by exploiting the amphiphilic character of the cellulose chains molecularly dissolved in the ionic liquid 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate. Its cellulose coating exhibits a continuous amorphous structure which differs significantly from the cellulose particle stabilization used in Pickering emulsions. The structure of these cellulose-coated o/w emulsion particles, in particular the cellulose coating shell characteristics (thickness, porosity, and composition), is studied by using a combination of direct imaging methods such as cryogenic electron microscopy and fluorescence microscopy with small-angle neutron scattering measurements. This work suggests a unique multicompartment structure of the emulsion particles: an oil core, surrounded by an inner shell composed of a porous cellulose gel, encapsulated by a dense outer cellulose shell, a few nanometers in thickness. The thickness of the inner cellulose shell varies significantly. The nanoscale emulsion droplets exhibit a thickness of 10 ± 3 nm, whereas the larger micron-sized droplets exhibit a thicker inner cellulose shell of 500–750 nm. It is also inferred that the cellulose shells contain water rather than oil.

中文翻译：

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分子溶液制备纤维素包覆的水包油型乳液的结构分析

通过利用分子溶解在离子液体乙酸1-乙基-3-甲基咪唑鎓中的纤维素链的两亲特性，天然纤维素已被用作稳定水包油（o / w）乳液的涂料。它的纤维素涂层表现出连续的无定形结构，这与Pickering乳液中使用的纤维素颗粒稳定度有很大不同。通过结合使用直接成像方法（如低温电子显微镜和荧光显微镜）以及小分子纤维素，研究了这些纤维素包被的乳化液颗粒的结构，特别是纤维素涂层壳的特性（厚度，孔隙率和组成）。角中子散射测量。这项工作提出了乳液颗粒的独特的多室结构：油芯，由被多孔纤维素凝胶组成的内壳包围，并被致密的纤维素外壳包裹，厚度为几纳米。纤维素内壳的厚度变化很大。纳米级乳剂液滴的厚度为10±3 nm，而较大的微米级液滴的纤维素内壳厚度为500–750 nm。还可以推断出，纤维素壳含有水而不是油。