Emulsifying Properties of Alpha-Chitin Nanofibrils Prepared by Aqueous Counter Collision

The study examined the emulsifying efficiency of chitin nanofibrils prepared by an aqueous counter collision (ACC) process. These chitin nanofibrils (ACC-ChNFs) were used to assist in the formation of Pickering emulsions (PEs) from a mixture of water and typical organic solvents, as well as edible canola oil. The oil-water interfacial tension, droplet diameter distribution, and surface potential of oil droplets were compared with those using ACC-cellulose nanofibrils as an emulsifier. The results showed that ACC-ChNFs had superior properties that allowed the stabilization of oil droplets with various oil-water interfacial tension values. Furthermore, the emulsification characteristics of canola oil-based emulsions in the ACC-ChNFs system were quite different from those of the ACC-CNFs, possibly due to the unique interfacial adsorption of cationic ACC-ChNFs onto canola oils involved in complexing with anionic fatty acids.