Paper Number
EF1 

Session
Emulsions, Foams and Interfacial Rheology

Title
Understanding the physics of nanoemulsion formation

Presentation Date and Time
October 7, 2014 (Tuesday) 4:00

Track / Room
Track 6 / Washington C

Authors (Click on name to view author profile)

1. Gupta, Ankur (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
2. Eral, Huseyin B. (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
3. Hatton, T. Alan (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
4. Doyle, Patrick S. (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)

Author and Affiliation Lines (in printed abstract book)
Ankur Gupta, Huseyin B. Eral, T. Alan Hatton, and Patrick S. Doyle
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139

Speaker / Presenter 
Gupta, Ankur

Text of Abstract
Nanoemulsions are nano-scale emulsions - i.e. liquid in liquid systems with droplet sizes on the order of 100nm. They can be prepared by high energy methods, such as high pressure homogenization and ultrasonication, as well as low energy methods like composition/temperature phase inversion. These small scale emulsions possess excellent material properties - large surface areas, optical transparency and long shelf life. Because of these properties, they have potential use in the pharmaceutical, food and oil industries. Over the last decade, significant work has been done on making and stabilizing different nanoemulsions. However, there have been very few attempts in understanding the physics of their formation. In this work, we revisit the problem of emulsion formulation via high energy processes. We propose how earlier literature can be modified and applied for understanding current nanoemulsion formation. To verify our proposed theory, we designed careful experiments wherein we prepared several nanoemulsion systems using a high pressure homogenizer. We varied process parameters such as input energy, dispersed phase viscosity and continuous phase viscosity. The size of the nanoemulsions was measured using dynamic light scattering (DLS). Good agreement was observed between the proposed theory and experimental results. Our theoretical understanding of nanoemulsion formation allows for the rational design of future systems.