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Compositional ripening of particle- and surfactant-stabilised emulsions: a comparison
Bernard P Binks1, Paul D I Fletcher, Benjamin L Holt
1Surfactant & Colloid Group, Department of Chemistry, University of Hull, Hull, UK HU6 7RX.
Abstract:
When beta-ionone-in-water emulsions are mixed with squalane-in-water emulsions, the slightly water-soluble, mobile beta-ionone undergoes mass transfer to the drops of highly water-insoluble, immobile oil squalane. We have investigated this compositional ripening process for emulsions stabilised either by particles or by surfactant molecules. For particle-stabilised emulsions, the swelling of the squalane-containing drops triggers droplet coalescence which causes the final swollen droplet radius to be proportional to the swelling ratio to the power of 1. Surfactant-stabilised emulsions swell without coalescence which causes the final droplet radius to be proportional to the swelling ratio to the power 1/3. Addition of excess, non-adsorbed particles to the particle-stabilised emulsions suppresses the swelling-triggered coalescence and causes a switchover from particle to surfactant behaviour.
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