Bespoke Diblock Copolymer Nanoparticles Enable the Production of Relatively Stable Oil-in-Water Pickering Nanoemulsions.

Sterically stabilized diblock copolymer nanoparticles with an intensity-average diameter of 25 nm are prepared in the form of a concentrated aqueous dispersion using polymerization-induced self-assembly (PISA). The addition of n-dodecane followed by high-shear homogenization produces n-dodecane-in-water Pickering macroemulsions of 22-46 μm diameter. If the nanoparticles are present in sufficient excess, then subsequent processing using a high-pressure microfluidizer leads to the formation of Pickering nanoemulsions with a mean oil droplet diameter below 200 nm.