Projects per year
Abstract
Emulsion droplets stabilised by colloidal particles (Pickering emulsions) can be highly stable, so it is unsurprising that they are beginning to be exploited industrially. The individual colloidal particles have interfacial attachment energies that are vastly larger than the thermal energy, hence they are usually thought of as being irreversibly adsorbed. Here we show, for the first time, particles being exchanged between droplets in a Pickering emulsion. This occurs when the emulsion contains droplets that share particles, often called bridging. By starting with two emulsions showing bridging, each stabilised by a different colour of particle, the dynamics can be studied as they are gently mixed together on a roller bank. We find that particle exchange occurs by two routes: firstly, during a period of unbridging and rebridging whose duration can be tuned by varying the wettability of the particles, and secondly, during very rare events when particles are ejected from one droplet and re-adsorbed onto another.
Original language | English |
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Article number | 31401 |
Pages (from-to) | 1-6 |
Number of pages | 6 |
Journal | Scientific Reports |
Volume | 6 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 10 Aug 2016 |
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Dive into the research topics of 'The secret life of Pickering emulsions: particle exchange revealed using two colours of particle'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.Projects
- 2 Finished
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Design Principles for New Soft Materials
Cates, M. (Principal Investigator), Allen, R. (Co-investigator), Clegg, P. (Co-investigator), Evans, M. (Co-investigator), MacPhee, C. (Co-investigator), Marenduzzo, D. (Co-investigator) & Poon, W. (Co-investigator)
7/12/11 → 6/06/17
Project: Research
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Emulsification using particles as a continuous flow process
Clegg, P. (Principal Investigator)
1/09/11 → 31/08/13
Project: Research
Profiles
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Aidan Brown
- School of Physics and Astronomy - Chancellor's Fellow: Food and Rheology
Person: Academic: Research Active (Research Assistant)
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Paul Clegg
- School of Physics and Astronomy - Personal Chair of Applied Physics
Person: Academic: Research Active