Project

PICKFOOD - Pickering emulsions for food applications

Pickering emulsions are known for their remarkable stability. This is due to the irreversible adsorption of particles to the interface, which provides a steric barrier to droplet coalescence. The unique potential of Pickering emulsions can be applied in a number of areas, such as food manufacturing, liquid-liquid phase separation, drug delivery, functional materials, cosmetics and enhanced oil recovery. However, little is known on the coalescence dynamics of particle-coated droplets and coalescence stability of the emulsions. In this project, we have developed microfluidic strategies to prepare well-defined and monodispersed particle-stabilized droplets which allow us to better quantify and analyze the coalescence behaviour of Pickering emulsions. We will control the droplets coalescence using customized microfluidic designs and optical tweezers and the coalescence process will be captured using fluorescence microscopy with high spatiotemporal resolution. We will further establish predictive models of the droplet coalescence and emulsion stability based on experimental and theoretical investigation.