{"title":"Photoresponsive surfactants for controllable and reversible emulsion systems","authors":"","doi":"10.1016/j.colsurfa.2024.135669","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Surfactants play a crucial role in applications such as oil-water separation, foam flotation, drug delivery, emulsion polymerization, and emulsifier recovery. Stimulus-responsive surfactants, as innovative smart materials, can reversibly control emulsion decomposition or phase transformation, facilitating emulsion circulation and component recovery. In this paper, two short-chain fluoroazobenzene photoresponsive surfactants (<strong>FADC-2</strong> and <strong>FADC-4</strong>) were synthesized. Three different reversible emulsion systems were constructed, leveraging the excellent chemical stability and rapid photoresponse of azobenzene and the trifluoromethyl group as a hydrophobic moiety. The results indicate that under different light exposures, the <strong>FADC-2</strong>/n-hexane/water and <strong>FADC-4</strong>/n-hexane/water emulsions exhibit reversible emulsification and demulsification cycles, while the <strong>FADC-4</strong>/n-octanol/water emulsions show reversible phase transfer. These findings highlight the effectiveness of photoresponsive surfactants in controlled emulsion systems, offering promising applications in fields requiring precise emulsion manipulation and liquid-liquid phase transfer, at the same time advancing the development of environmentally friendly, practical, durable, and stimulus-responsive surfactants.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":278,"journal":{"name":"Colloids and Surfaces A: Physicochemical and Engineering Aspects","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":4.9000,"publicationDate":"2024-10-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Colloids and Surfaces A: Physicochemical and Engineering Aspects","FirstCategoryId":"92","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0927775724025330","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"CHEMISTRY, PHYSICAL","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Surfactants play a crucial role in applications such as oil-water separation, foam flotation, drug delivery, emulsion polymerization, and emulsifier recovery. Stimulus-responsive surfactants, as innovative smart materials, can reversibly control emulsion decomposition or phase transformation, facilitating emulsion circulation and component recovery. In this paper, two short-chain fluoroazobenzene photoresponsive surfactants (FADC-2 and FADC-4) were synthesized. Three different reversible emulsion systems were constructed, leveraging the excellent chemical stability and rapid photoresponse of azobenzene and the trifluoromethyl group as a hydrophobic moiety. The results indicate that under different light exposures, the FADC-2/n-hexane/water and FADC-4/n-hexane/water emulsions exhibit reversible emulsification and demulsification cycles, while the FADC-4/n-octanol/water emulsions show reversible phase transfer. These findings highlight the effectiveness of photoresponsive surfactants in controlled emulsion systems, offering promising applications in fields requiring precise emulsion manipulation and liquid-liquid phase transfer, at the same time advancing the development of environmentally friendly, practical, durable, and stimulus-responsive surfactants.
期刊介绍:
Colloids and Surfaces A: Physicochemical and Engineering Aspects is an international journal devoted to the science underlying applications of colloids and interfacial phenomena.
The journal aims at publishing high quality research papers featuring new materials or new insights into the role of colloid and interface science in (for example) food, energy, minerals processing, pharmaceuticals or the environment.