Efficient self-emulsification via cooling-heating cycles

Slavka Tcholakova, Zhulieta Valkova, Diana Cholakova, Zahari Vinarov, Ivan Lesov, Nikolai Denkov and Stoyan K. Smoukov ()
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Slavka Tcholakova: Faculty of Chemistry and Pharmacy, Sofia University
Zhulieta Valkova: Faculty of Chemistry and Pharmacy, Sofia University
Diana Cholakova: Faculty of Chemistry and Pharmacy, Sofia University
Zahari Vinarov: Faculty of Chemistry and Pharmacy, Sofia University
Ivan Lesov: Faculty of Chemistry and Pharmacy, Sofia University
Nikolai Denkov: Faculty of Chemistry and Pharmacy, Sofia University
Stoyan K. Smoukov: Active and Intelligent Materials Lab, University of Cambridge

Nature Communications, 2017, vol. 8, issue 1, 1-11

Abstract: Abstract In self-emulsification higher-energy micrometre and sub-micrometre oil droplets are spontaneously produced from larger ones and only a few such methods are known. They usually involve a one-time reduction in oil solubility in the continuous medium via changing temperature or solvents or a phase inversion in which the preferred curvature of the interfacial surfactant layer changes its sign. Here we harness narrow-range temperature cycling to cause repeated breakup of droplets to higher-energy states. We describe three drop breakup mechanisms that lead the drops to burst spontaneously into thousands of smaller droplets. One of these mechanisms includes the remarkable phenomenon of lipid crystal dewetting from its own melt. The method works with various oil–surfactant combinations and has several important advantages. It enables low surfactant emulsion formulations with temperature-sensitive compounds, is scalable to industrial emulsification and applicable to fabricating particulate drug carriers with desired size and shape.

Date: 2017
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:8:y:2017:i:1:d:10.1038_ncomms15012

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DOI: 10.1038/ncomms15012

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