Particle-Stabilized High Internal Phase Emulsions as Templates for Porous Nanocomposite Materials

Functionalized nanometer calcium carbonate (nanoCaCO
₃
) particles were synthesized and used as emulsifier to stabilize High Internal Phase Emulsions (HIPEs). The porous polyacrylamide/CaCO
₃
(PAM/CaCO
₃
) nanocomposite materials were prepared by CaCO
₃
-stabilized HIPEs templates. The influence of the content of nano-CaCO
₃
particles on the stability of emulsions, and the morphology of the corresponding materials were all investigated. The photographs of HIPEs showed that the nano-CaCO
₃
particles with a contact angle O slight lower than 90° and appropriate content could effectively stabilize oil-in-water (o/w) emulsions. The scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images showed that the pores of the PAM/CaCO
₃
composites were close-cellular structure, and the average pore sizes were hundreds of micrometers in diameter.