Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 26, 2026

Facile Preparation of Internally Self-assembled Lipid Particles Stabilized by Carbon Nanotubes
Published on: February 19, 2016
Oil-in-water Pickering emulsion destabilisation at low particle concentrations
Jessica Avendaño Juárez1, Catherine P Whitby
1Ian Wark Research Institute, University of South Australia, Mawson Lakes, South Australia 5095, Australia.
Abstract:
Droplet evolution in unstable, dilute oil-in-water Pickering emulsions was characterised using a combination of light scattering, confocal microscopy and rheology. Emulsions were formed at concentrations of silanised fumed silica particles that are not sufficient to prevent destabilisation. The key result is that destabilisation initially occurs via a combination of droplet flocculation and permeation. Close contact between the drops enhances oil transfer from smaller drops to the larger ones. The large drops swell over time until the attached particle density is insufficient to protect the drops against coalescence. Examination of the emulsion microstructure revealed the relationship between drop stability and the structural characteristics of the aggregates formed due to coagulation of the silica particles in the emulsions. The implications of these results for controlling Pickering emulsion stability are discussed.
Related Concept Videos
The Colloidal State
Colloidal precipitates
Colloids
Solubility
A solution is a homogeneous mixture composed of a solvent, the major component, and a solute, the minor component. The physical state of a solution—solid, liquid, or gas—is typically the same as that of the solvent. Solute concentrations are often described with qualitative terms such as dilute (of relatively low concentration) and concentrated (of relatively high concentration).
In a solution, the solute particles (molecules, atoms, and/or ions)...
Entropy and Solvation
Intermolecular Forces and Physical Properties

