Pickering interfacial catalysis enables oil/water biphasic reactions
to efficiently proceed by the formation of stable Pickering emulsions.
However, a convenient approach to control the emulsion properties,
so as to combine the reactivity and recovery of catalytic emulsifiers,
remains challenging to date. Herein, we have reported the switchable
transition between emulsification/demulsification controlled by the
catalytic reaction process, to realize reaction-controlled Pickering
interfacial catalysis. A novel series of phosphotungstate (PW)-functionalized
mesoporous Janus silica nanosheets were thus prepared by selectively
decorating ammonium PW on one side of mesosilica nanosheets. Characterization
results suggested their H2O2-switched reversible
emulsification/demulsification behavior in an oil/water biphasic system
due to H2O2-induced wettability change in the
ammonium PW moiety. The resultant H2O2-switchable
Pickering emulsions induced an efficient Pickering interfacial catalysis
approach for selective oxidation of alcohols by aqueous H2O2 in water, thus leading to remarkable high conversion
and selectivity over a wide range of alcohols. When H2O2 was used up, they could be demulsified spontaneously, resulting
in the complete separation of catalytic emulsifiers for steady reuse.
The reaction-controlled emulsification/demulsification approach provided
a sustainable way to combine reactivity and recovery of catalytic
emulsifiers in Pickering interfacial catalysis, which was a benefit
for energy-saving in industrial applications.