What factors affect the stability of an emulsion?

The extent of emulsion stability is determined by various factors such as particle size, particle size distribution, density between the dispersed and continuous phases as well as the chemical integrity of the dispersed phase [26].

Why do emulsions fail?

Why do emulsions break? Making an emulsion is fairly easy, but it can be a little delicate. Often if the temperature is too high or the olive oil is added too quickly then the mixture can lose its ability to hold together. When this happens, the emulsification has “broken” or “separated.”

What is emulsion explain the stability problems of emulsion?

Emulsions are colloid mixtures that are formed by mixing two immiscible liquids, usually oil and water, which dissolve into one of the liquids. Emulsions have two phases: a dispersed phase and a continuous phase.

Why are emulsions unstable?

From a purely thermodynamic point of view, an emulsion is an unstable system because there is a natural tendency for a liquid/liquid system to separate and reduce its interfacial area and, hence, its interfacial energy. Produced oilfield emulsions are classified on the basis of their degree of kinetic stability.

What are problems in emulsion?

Insufficient amount of emulsifier. Precipitation of water-soluble emulsifiers. pH disbalance (too high a concentration of base or acid can make emulsifiers disfunctional) Emulsifier interaction (use of anionic and cationic emulsifiers in the same product)

What are the disadvantages of emulsion?

Disadvantages of emulsions.

• Pharmaceutical emulsions are thermodynamically unstable and therefore must be formulated to stabilize the emulsion from separation of the two phases.
• Pharmaceutical emulsions may be difficult to manufacture.
• Storage conditions may affect stability.

What are the effects of emulsions?

Generally, adverse effects caused by emulsions are related to higher viscosity, larger pressure drop and more oil-water separation difficulty. This correspondingly results in the need for higher pumping capacity and larger capacity of vessels or pipelines.

Is emulsion a stable preparation?

The logical place to begin is with a working definition of an emulsion. Many such definitions are possible, but the most basic one defines an emulsion as a stable mixture of two immiscible liquids, one of which is uniformly dispersed in the other in the form of small droplets or particles.

Why are emulsions prepared?

An emulsion is prepared by shaking strongly the mixture of the two liquids or by passing the mixture through a colloid mill known as the homogenizer. The emulsions thus prepared from the pure liquids are usually not stable and the two liquids separate out on standing.

How can emulsions be broken?

Emulsions can be disrupted by the addition of brine or salt water, which increases the ionic strength of the aqueous layer and facilitates separation of the two phases by forcing the surfactant-like molecule to separate into one phase or the other-this technique is known as salting out.

What makes a good emulsion?

The viscosity decrease is usually accompanied by a decrease in the interfacial tension, more readily making a good emulsion form. A stable emulsion of two immiscible liquids is rare, and some type of chemical assistance is typically required.

What are the tips to improve emulsion stability?

Tips to improve emulsion stability from the viewpoint of HLB, physical property of bulk phase, and controlling the interfacial phase are explained. Further development to control interfacial properties will help formulators to solve problems and create better emulsion products.

What are the uses of emulsions?

The uses of emulsions are found in several chemical, energy, and environmental industries such as the food, health care, chemical synthesis, and firefighting sectors. Water-in-oil emulsions are formed spontaneously during oil production when oil and water are mixed together and in the presence of asphaltene as a naturally occurring surfactant.

How do you make an emulsion that will not age irreversibly?

Making an emulsion that will not age irreversibly while it is being handled requires adding stabilizing components. They can be surfactant molecules, polymers, proteins, or particles that assemble at the interface between the liquids in the emulsion and prevent the liquids from separating.

What happens when water is added to an o/w emulsion?

On adding water to an o/w emulsion, it will still remain stable as water is the dispersion medium, but on adding oil it will get destabilized as oil & water are immiscible. Similarly, w/o emulsion can be diluted with oil & would still be stable, but would get destabilized on the addition of water.