HALLOYSITE BASED PICKERING EMULSIONS FOR AGRICULTURE
2Institute of Biochemistry, Food Science and Nutrition, The Robert H. Smith Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environment, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Rehovot, Israel
A simple and effective way to prepare stimuli responsive Pickering emulsion stabilized by Halloysite nanotubes for agriculture is presented. The emulsion have been generated by IN-SITU procedure in a biphasic oil-in-water (o/w) or water-in-oil systems. Two trialkoxysilanes of complementary polarity, (3-aminopropyl)triethoxysilane and dodecyltriethoxysilane, were used to chemically immobilize the Halloysite nanoparticles at the o/w interface and stabilize the as-generated Pickering emulsions. The effects of varying the o/w ratio and the concentration of the added solids on the type of emulsion formed, the droplet size, as well as the emulsion stability have been investigated. A solid shell emerged around the oil droplets from copolymerization between silane monomers. APTES being crucial for the formation of the shell structure. Develop of stimuli-responsive systems are promising control in release properties, especially smart release of pesticides. Therefore, we developed new responsive Pickering emulsion that respond to environmental stimuli such as PH. We present the opening of the interface droplets according to PH changes. This method enabling the use of stimuli-responsive nanomaterials release of active substances