Fig. 1: Working principles of stabilizers and promoters in plasmonic Pickering emulsions.

a Schematic illustration of the experimental process for generating carbon nanotube (CNT)-Au nanoparticle (AuNP) stabilized w/o emulsions. b Schematic illustrations of charged AuNPs repelling each other at the interface. c Schematic illustrations of the working principle of organo-electrolytes acting as “promoters” for interfacial self-assembly by providing charge-screening. d Three-phase contact angle of CNTs, AuNP and CNT-AuNP layers measured for water-cyclohexane. e–g Photographs of CNT emulsions, AuNP films, and CNT-AuNP emulsions. h Schematic illustrations of unstable AuNP emulsions that can only withstand a low maximum capillary pressure (\({P}_{c}^{{{\max }}}\)). i Schematic illustrations of the working principle of CNTs acting as emulsion stabilizers by increasing \({P}_{c}^{{{\max }}}\).