Fabrication of starch-based nanospheres to stabilize pickering emulsion

Starch is successively modified by acetic anhydride and phthalic anhydride, and then starch-based nanospheres are fabricated by a simple nanoprecipitation procedure. These pH-responsive amphiphilic starch-based nanospheres of uniform size are used as particulate emulsifiers to stabilize Pickering emulsions. CLSM and SEM characterization find that starch-based nanospheres adsorbed at the interface between oil phase and water phase. Moreover, the catastrophic inversion and transitional inversion of such emulsions can be easily achieved by varied the water/oil volume ratio and pH of aqueous dispersion, respectively.