Emulsions and Emulsion Stability Analysis and Application in Chemical, Pharmaceutical and Food Industries

A special issue of Processes (ISSN 2227-9717). This special issue belongs to the section "Chemical Processes and Systems".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 May 2024) | Viewed by 11708

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Food Engineering Program, Research Group on Complex Fluid Engineering and Food Rheology, University of Cartagena, 13003 Cartagena, Colombia
Interests: food materials science; rheology; food design and texture; emulsions; food gels; formulation and processing lubricants from vegetable oils and by-products (biopolymers) of agri-food

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Department of Chemical Engineering, Centro Universitário FEI, Av. Humberto de Alencar Castelo Branco, 3972, São Paulo 09850-901, CEP, Brazil
Interests: petroleum; monolayer; alcohols; asphaltene; surface and interfacial tension

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Laboratorio de Formulación, Interfases, Reología y Procesos (FIRP), Facultad de Ingeniería, Universidad de Los Andes, Merida 5101, Venezuela
Interests: formulation of micro and nano emulsions; phase behavior of surfactant/water/oil systems; emulsification by inversion methods; emulsion stability

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Guest Editor
Centre for Sustainable Engineering, School of Computing, Engineering and Digital Technologies, Teesside University, Middlesbrough TS1 3BX, UK
Interests: hydraulic fracturing; risk evaluation of hydraulic fracturing; shale gas/tight sand; advanced EOR methods (smart water injection, low salinity water injection, CO2 injection); fluid flow in porous media; desalination; new methods in desalination reservoir rock/fluid interaction; polymer and biopolymer application in oil and gas wells; oil and gas reservoir modelling; rock surface characterization; carbonate; rock/chalk reservoirs; wettability alteration; carbon capture, storage, and utilization; H2 production with integrated CO2 capture; H2 storage (geological); geothermal nanotechnology application in oil and gas industry; electromagnetic EOR/wetting concept
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Emulsions consist of droplets of one liquid dispersed in another immiscible liquid. They are metastable dispersions; external shear energy is used to rupture large droplets into smaller ones during emulsification. Emulsions can be classified according to the distribution of the lipid and aqueous phases, for example, oil-in-water (O/W) and water-in-oil (W/O) emulsions. Multiple/double emulsions are also formulated, representing multicompartmentalized systems characterized by the coexistence of oil-in-water (O/W) and water-in-oil (W/O) emulsions, in which the globules of the dispersed phase contain smaller equally dispersed droplets within them. The most common are water-in-oil-in-water (W/O/W), although oil-in-water-in-oil (O/W/O) emulsions can also be used in specific applications. These colloidal dispersions are unstable and prone to changes in their properties with time. A few the most important physical mechanisms responsible for the instability of emulsions are gravitational separation (e.g., creaming and sedimentation), flocculation, coalescence, and phase inversion. Stability is the most important factor to be considered in emulsion technology; an emulsion is stable when there is no change in the size distribution or the spatial arrangement of droplets over the experimental time-scale.

Surfactants, or surface-active agents, have two main functions: providing colloidal stability to the droplet for a long time by forming an electrically charged layer at its interface with the continuous phase and lowering the interfacial tension, thereby making droplet formation less energy-intensive; and stabilization of the emulsion by restricting the mobility of the droplets of the disperse phase due to increases in the viscosity and sometimes viscoelasticity of the continuous phase. In many industrial processes, surfactants are added to improve the properties of the products. The rheology and emulsion stability are interrelated among them, and the emulsion rheology may not be understood without considering the structural parameters of the emulsion, such as the rheology of the continuous phase, the nature of particles, and inter-particle interactions.

Emulsions are of interest in many important practical applications in food, cosmetics, petroleum production, agriculture, chemical, oil and gas, pharmaceutical, and various other process industries.

This Special Issue on “Emulsions and Emulsion Stability Analysis and Application in Chemical, Pharmaceutical, and Food Industries” aims to select novel advances in the design, development, and application of emulsion technology.

Dr. Luis Alberto Garcia Zapateiro
Dr. Ronaldo Gonçalves dos Santos
Prof. Dr. Ana M. Forgiarini
Dr. Sina Rezaei Gomari
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • emulsions
  • emulsion stability
  • nanoemulsions
  • pickering emulsion
  • functional properties
  • microstructure and rheology
  • chemical properties
  • emulsions application
  • surface-active agents
  • complex fluids

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Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

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16 pages, 3440 KiB  
Article
Research on Permeation Influencing Factors of Cosmetics UV Filters and Improve In Vitro Permeation Tests (IVPTs)
by Wanping Zhang, Changchang Chen, Heng Wang, Lihao Gu and Shilian Zheng
Processes 2023, 11(11), 3139; https://doi.org/10.3390/pr11113139 - 2 Nov 2023
Viewed by 1448
Abstract
The ideal UV absorber should be safe and should have excellent properties. Therefore, transdermal absorption is essential for the safety risk assessment of sunscreen cosmetics. The Franz diffusion cell method is the most common means of studying in vitro penetration, but there is [...] Read more.
The ideal UV absorber should be safe and should have excellent properties. Therefore, transdermal absorption is essential for the safety risk assessment of sunscreen cosmetics. The Franz diffusion cell method is the most common means of studying in vitro penetration, but there is a lack of standard methods for the in vitro permeation of UV absorbers. This paper used the Franz diffusion cell method to improve an in vitro permeation test (IVPT) for UV absorbers; three commonly used UV absorbers were tested: Octinoxate (EHM), Diethylaminohydroxybenzoyl hexyl benzoate (DHHB), and Ensulizole (PBSA). The final parameters were as follows: porcine ear skin was chosen for the membrane; the temperature of the receptor fluid was 37 °C; a PBS solution with 50% ethanol was chosen for the receptor fluid; and the dose of the test substance was 3 g. The improved IVPT method will help to accurately quantify the in vitro permeation of difficult-to-permeate components. In addition, the method can also be applied to evaluate the permeability of UV absorbers under different formulation conditions, which will help to address the difficulties related to the safety and application of sunscreen products. Full article
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14 pages, 1719 KiB  
Article
Assessment of Triglyceride Droplet Crystallization Using Mixtures of β-Lactoglobulin and Phospholipids as Emulsifiers
by Jasmin Reiner, Marian Schwenkschuster, Leon Harnisch, Volker Gaukel and Heike Petra Karbstein
Processes 2023, 11(9), 2600; https://doi.org/10.3390/pr11092600 - 30 Aug 2023
Viewed by 1029
Abstract
Many applications in the life science and food industries require (semi-)crystalline oil-in-water (O/W) dispersions. Unfortunately, high supercooling and, thus, low temperatures are often needed to induce the crystallization of droplets. As low molecular weight emulsifiers (LMWEs) are able to act as nucleation templates, [...] Read more.
Many applications in the life science and food industries require (semi-)crystalline oil-in-water (O/W) dispersions. Unfortunately, high supercooling and, thus, low temperatures are often needed to induce the crystallization of droplets. As low molecular weight emulsifiers (LMWEs) are able to act as nucleation templates, they might help to decrease the required level of supercooling. Furthermore, proteins and LMWEs are frequently co-formulated to improve the colloidal stability of emulsions and dispersions. Hence, choosing a suitable protein and LMWE mixture would allow for achieving specific product properties for controlling the solid fat content (SFC) and take advantage of the stabilization mechanisms of both emulsifiers. Therefore, this study focuses on the impact of the co-existence of β-lactoglobulin (β-lg) and phospholipids (PLs) LMWEs on the SFC of triglyceride (TAG) droplets at isothermal conditions using a thermo-optical method. When β-lg alone was used as an emulsifier, a maximum SFC of 80% was obtained at a supercooling of 32 K and 42 K for trilaurin and tripalmitin, respectively. The SFC could be increased to 100% using a PL containing saturated fatty acids (FAs) and a small hydrophilic headgroup. At the same supercooling, a PL containing saturated FAs and a large hydrophilic headgroup led to a maximum SFC of 80%. At lower supercooling, the SFC was reduced with this PL by 10% compared to β-lg alone. In addition, when the PLs had more time to adsorb and rearrange with ß-lg at the interface, even lower SFCs were observed compared to cooling directly after emulsification. Full article
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18 pages, 4401 KiB  
Article
Physicochemical, Rheological, and Microstructural Properties of Low-Fat Mayonnaise Manufactured with Hydrocolloids from Dioscorea rotundata as a Fat Substitute
by Leonardo Rojas-Martin, Somaris E. Quintana and Luis A. García-Zapateiro
Processes 2023, 11(2), 492; https://doi.org/10.3390/pr11020492 - 7 Feb 2023
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2842
Abstract
(1) Background: In this study, the potential use of Dioscorea rotundata hydrocolloids was evaluated to develop low-fat mayonnaise. (2) Methods: The effect of different concentrations of hydrocolloids on the physicochemical, microstructural, and rheological properties of mayonnaise was evaluated. (3) Results: Physicochemical analyses showed [...] Read more.
(1) Background: In this study, the potential use of Dioscorea rotundata hydrocolloids was evaluated to develop low-fat mayonnaise. (2) Methods: The effect of different concentrations of hydrocolloids on the physicochemical, microstructural, and rheological properties of mayonnaise was evaluated. (3) Results: Physicochemical analyses showed pH values that were stable over time but decreased with increasing hydrocolloid concentration. The color parameters showed a decrease in luminosity and an increase in the values of a* and b* over time, which can be translated into an increase in yellow and a decrease in white, with a greater accentuation in the control sample. The rheological study allowed us to obtain a non-Newtonian flow behavior of the shear-thinning type for all samples, and the flow curves were well-fitted by the Sisko model (R2 ≥ 0.99). The samples had an elastic rather than viscous behavior, typical of dressings and emulsions. This indicates that the storage modulus was greater than the loss modulus (G′ > G″) in the evaluated frequency range. (4) Conclusions: hydrocolloids from Dioscorea rotundata have potential as a fat substitute in emulsion-type products. Full article
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16 pages, 2381 KiB  
Article
Determination of the Dominating Coalescence Pathways in Double Emulsion Formulations by Use of Microfluidic Emulsions
by Nico Leister and Heike Petra Karbstein
Processes 2023, 11(1), 234; https://doi.org/10.3390/pr11010234 - 11 Jan 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2712
Abstract
In water-in-oil-in-water (W1/O/W2) double emulsions several irreversible instability phenomena lead to changes. Besides diffusive processes, coalescence of droplets is the main cause of structural changes. In double emulsions, inner droplets can coalesce with each other (W1–W1 [...] Read more.
In water-in-oil-in-water (W1/O/W2) double emulsions several irreversible instability phenomena lead to changes. Besides diffusive processes, coalescence of droplets is the main cause of structural changes. In double emulsions, inner droplets can coalesce with each other (W1–W1 coalescence), inner droplets can be released via coalescence (W1–W2 coalescence) and oil droplets can coalesce with each other (O–O coalescence). Which of the coalescence pathways contributes most to the failure of the double emulsion structure cannot be determined by common measurement techniques. With monodisperse double emulsions produced with microfluidic techniques, each coalescence path can be observed and quantified simultaneously. By comparing the occurrence of all possible coalescence events, different hydrophilic surfactants in combination with PGPR are evaluated and discussed with regard to their applicability in double emulsion formulations. When variating the hydrophilic surfactant, the stability against all three coalescence mechanisms changes. This shows that measuring only one of the coalescence mechanisms is not sufficient to describe the stability of a double emulsion. While some surfactants are able to stabilize against all three possible coalescence mechanisms, some display mainly one of the coalescence mechanisms or in some cases all three mechanisms are observed simultaneously. Full article
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Review

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29 pages, 2886 KiB  
Review
A Perspective on the Prospect of Pickering Emulsion in Reservoir Conformance Control with Insight into the Influential Parameters and Characterization Techniques
by Muhammad Mohsin Yousufi, Iskandar bin Dzulkarnain, Mysara Eissa Mohyaldinn Elhaj and Shehzad Ahmed
Processes 2023, 11(9), 2672; https://doi.org/10.3390/pr11092672 - 6 Sep 2023
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2535
Abstract
In reservoir conformance control, polymer gels and foams are majorly used; however, they have drawbacks such as inducing formation damage, having weaker shear resistance, requiring a higher pumping rate, and limited penetration depth. Emulsions are a potential alternative that can address these issues, [...] Read more.
In reservoir conformance control, polymer gels and foams are majorly used; however, they have drawbacks such as inducing formation damage, having weaker shear resistance, requiring a higher pumping rate, and limited penetration depth. Emulsions are a potential alternative that can address these issues, but they are not widely used. Current surfactant-based emulsions require high emulsifier concentrations for stability and often rely on multiple additives to address various factors, which makes the surfactant synthesis and utilization of emulsions quite challenging. However, Pickering emulsions, which utilize solid particles for emulsion stabilization, have emerged as a promising solution for reservoir conformance control. Compared to conventional polymer gels and foams, Pickering emulsions offer superior shear resistance, deeper penetration, and reduced formation damage. This review provides an overview of recent developments in the utilization of Pickering emulsions for conformance control, highlighting important parameters and characteristics that must be considered during the design and deployment of a Pickering emulsion for water shut-off operation. This review also sheds light on current challenges and provides recommendations for future development of the particle-stabilized colloid system. Full article
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