M2. Exotic Emulsions

Here we address the design and fabrication of novel emulsions, stabilized either by colloidal particles or proteins, and/or containing active ingredients causing self-propulsion or other non-equilibrium features.

So-called "Pickering emulsions" use colloidal particles rather than traditional detergents to impart interfacial stability to emulsion droplets of one fluid in another. These have various advantages including the fact that the surface is generally trapped in a nonequilibrium state whose properties can therefore be manipulated via process-history as well as by varying composition and/or thermodynamic conditions. We are working to establish design principles governing: the formation and stability of particle-stabilized or protein-stabilized emulsions under flow; the interfacial micromechanics of such emulsions and its influence on stability; the possible creation of emulsions of exotic functionality, such as self-propelled emulsion droplets based on biomimetic principles.

Publications