I am trying to compare nanoparticles and molecular surfactants for hydrate formation process. Pickering emulsion stabled by nanoparticles are usually in hundred micrometer in diameter. So I am wondering is there any surfactant or recipe can give me a stable emulsion with similar droplet size?
All emusions are thermodynamically unstable. At these sizes, phase separation is a virtual certainty.
You can get direct and reverse emulsions. To do this, you need to take a surfactant with a certain hydrophilic lipophilic balance (HLB). For direct emulsion 8 -13; for the reverse emulsion 3-6. When you make a comparative experiment of stability of Pickering emulsions and conventional emulsions, then characterize the powders with the specific surface for Pickering emulsions, and the surfactant with the HLB number.
Making large emulsion droplets is difficult with molecular surfactants, because the low interfacial tension means that smaller drops form easily. If you do not need much sample, then microfluidics is the best approach, see this review Article Designer Emulsions Using Microfluidics
, for example. With the kind of setups they discuss, you can make exactly what you want.- Badges
- Science topic
- Similar topics
- Chemistry
- Nanotechnology
- Nanostructured Materials
- Nanoparticles