Stage 1 (Objectives I & II, 2022)

• we have synthesized ligands and chelates, mainly Schiff bases, that can reversibly bind metal ions;
• we have synthesized metal organic complexes from the afore mentioned ligands and chelates with the metallic ions: Cu(II), Co(II), Ni(II) & Cd(II);
• we have synthesized snowman-type Janus nanoparticles (JNPs) consisting of two lobes, one coming from seed polystyrene nanoparticles PS-NPs and the other from a phase separated polymer poly(3-trimethoxysilyl)propylmethacrylate (PTSPM);
• we obtained homologous series of JNPs with varying amphiphilicity by adjusting the relative Janus lobe sizes;
• polidentated ligands, such as branched-polyethileneimine (b-PEI), were attached onto teh PTSPM Janus lobe of the JNPs (JNP-b-PEI) and we have shown that these are amphiphilic by showing their ability to lower the interfacial tension and stabilize Pickering emulsions;
• JNP-b-PEI have been utilized in the emulsification of molten wax and by cooling we obtained microspheres that are capable of binding transitional metal ions from water;
• we have syntehsized pseudoamphiphilic silica nanoparticles functionalized with certain functional groups (NP) that can also stabilize Pickering emulsions;
• wtih the silica NPs we were able to stabilize Pickering emulsions and obtain microspheres that were ion imprinted with the help of the ligand and metal-organic complexes;
• we have published one article showing that microspheres obtained from Pickering emulsions can extract ions from water.

Publications:

- Pauli, O.; Honciuc, A. Extraction of Metal Ions by Interfacially Active Janus Nanoparticles Supported by Wax Colloidosomes Obtained from Pickering Emulsions. Nanomaterials 2022, 12, 3738. https://doi.org/10.3390/nano12213738