title: Stable nanoemulsions prepared via interfacial solidification of amphiphilic polyether-polyester block copolymers.
abstract: Oil-in-water (O/W) emulsions are generally stabilized by water-soluble surfactants, which anchor to the surface of oil droplets dispersed in an aqueous solution. Our recent work introduced a new approach to stabilize nanoemulsions through the formation of a semi-solid interphase at the O/W interface using a water-insoluble amphiphilic block copolymer, methoxy poly(ethylene glycol)-block-poly(ɛ-caprolactone). However, the approach is not applicable to relatively non-polar oils due to the quick precipitation of the hydrophobic PCL block within the oil phase. Here we report on successful stabilization of non-polar liquid paraffin nanoemulsions using an amphiphilic copolymers having a new hydrophobic block comprising ɛ-caprolactone and L-lactide. The new block copolymer was reorganized at the O/W interface of liquid paraffin, generating stable nano-sized emulsions via the formation of a robust semi-solid polymeric barrier. The prepared nanoemulsions show excellent dispersion stability even under a high level of mechanical stresses during freeze/thaw cycles.
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, 291 Daehak-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 305-701, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Trang Huyen Le
authors.initials: TH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: KAIST Institute for NanoCentury (CNiT), Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, 291 Daehak-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 305-701, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Hwiseok
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Jun
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, 291 Daehak-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 305-701, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Jee Seon
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, 291 Daehak-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 305-701, Republic of Korea; KAIST Institute for NanoCentury (CNiT), Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, 291 Daehak-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 305-701, Republic of Korea. Electronic address: yoonsung@kaist.ac.kr.
authors.forename: Yoon Sung
authors.initials: YS
authors.lastname: Nam
keywords: Aliphatic polyester; Amphiphilic copolymers; Block copolymers; Dispersion stability; Nanoemulsions