Porous Gelatin Membrane Obtained from Pickering Emulsions Stabilized by Graphene Oxide

Abstract

This article presents a novel procedure for preparing porous membranes from water-soluble polymers involving the formation of a Pickering emulsion. Gelatin is a biodegradable biopolymer obtained by the partial hydrolysis of collagen. A biopolymer such as gelatin is capable of adsorbing at an oil/water interface, resulting in decreased interfacial energy. Hence, gelatin is widely employed as an alternate for synthetic surfactants to stabilize emulsions in the food industry. However, high-molecular-weight gelatin leads to large emulsion droplets and poor emulsion stability. The amphoteric nature of graphene oxide (GO) nanosheets was helpful in stabilizing the oil/water interface and allows for the preparation of a stable gelatin/GO emulsion. Membranes fabricated using gelatin/GO have a uniformly distributed porous structure. However, prepared membranes are highly hydrosoluble, so the membranes were cross-linked without affecting their morphology. XRD results evidenced that gelatin effectively exfoliated the graphite oxide which is essential to stabilizing the emulsion. Fabricated gelatin/GO membranes possess uniformly distributed pores and are highly stable in aqueous solution. Pure water filtration tests were conducted on the membranes. The permeability results proved that the membranes fabricated by a Pickering emulsion are promising materials for filtration.

2D and 3D Metal–Organic Framework at the Oil/Water Interface: A Case Study of Copper Benzenedicarboxylate

“…2D materials such as graphene, metal oxides, boron nitride, and metal–organic frameworks (MOFs), have demonstrated promising applications in many fields, including energy storage, sensors, and separation . The surface chemistry and interfacial distribution of 2D materials are crucial fundamental properties, and can be applied for further construction of porous monoliths and thin membranes . In addition, 2D amphiphilic materials derived from graphene oxide and boron nitride can reduce the oil/water interfacial tension and are used as stabilizers for Pickering emulsions .…”

Porous Gelatin Membranes Obtained from Pickering Emulsions Stabilized with h-BNNS: Application for Polyelectrolyte-Enhanced Ultrafiltration

“…The water flux obtained in this work is higher than the flux obtained by gelatin-based membranes already presented in the literature. Polyamide (PA) thin film nanofibrous composite membranes with a polyacrylonitrile (PAN) substrate and gelatin interlayer fabricated by reverse interfacial polymerization (IP-R) display a flux of 135.6 L m −2 h −1 [ 51 ], whereas gelatin membranes previously prepared in our group using Pickering emulsion method but with graphene oxide (GO) as stabilizer and ethyl benzoate as oil phase were characterized with a quite low water permeability of 5.8 ± 1.3 L m −2 h −1 bar −1 [ 52 ]. The complexation–ultrafiltration tests were carried out using the BNG-5 h-12 h membrane, and its L p value (150 L h −1 m −2 bar −1 ) was considered the reference value to assess concentration polarization and membrane fouling.…”

Overview of Protein‐Based Biopolymers for Biomedical Application

“…Proteins such as collagen, gelatin, keratin, sericin, and fibroin are employed for the fabrication of various formulations such as films, pickering emulsion, hydrogel, nanogel, nanofibers, interconnected porous scaffolds, and 3D‐printed scaffolds . Electrospinning technique is found to be a promising method for the fabrication of scaffolds in tissue‐engineering applications .…”