Synthetic semicrystalline cellulose oligomers as efficient Pickering emulsion stabilizers

Abstract Nanocellulose are promising Pickering emulsion stabilizers for being sustainable and non-toxic. In this work, semicrystalline cellulose oligomers (SCCO), which were synthesized from maltodextrin using cellobiose as primer by in vitro enzymatic biosystem, were exploited as stabilizer for oil-in-water Pickering emulsions. At first, the morphology, structure, thermal and rheological properties of SCCO suspensions were characterized, showing that SCCO had a sheet morphology and typical cellulose-Ⅱ structure with 56% crystallinity. Then the kinetic stability of emulsions containing various amounts of SCCO were evaluated against external stress such as pH, ionic strength, and temperature. Noting that SCCO-Pickering emulsions exhibited an excellent stability against changes in pH, ionic strength, and temperature, and it was also kinetically stable for up to 6 months. Both SCCO suspensions and their emulsions exhibited gel-like structures and shear-thinning behaviors. These results demonstrated great potential of SCCO to be applied as a nanocellulosic emulsifier in food, cosmetic and pharmaceutical industries.