Stabilization Techniques in Foam and Emulsion Systems
Summary
Stabilisation of foams and emulsions relies on creating durable interfaces and controlling the rheology of the continuous phase. At the interface, surfactants, proteins or colloidal particles reduce interfacial tension and form viscoelastic films that resist coalescence and disproportionation. Solid‐particle (Pickering) approaches anchor rigid or deformable particles at air–liquid or liquid–liquid boundaries, delivering exceptional long‐term stability. In the continuous phase, gelators such as waxes, crystalline fatty acids or polymer networks impart yield stress and hinder drainage and coarsening. Recent work has married interfacial and bulk strategies, showing that excess particles or crystals in the bulk can both reinforce the interface and generate a gelled matrix that supports dispersed domains under gravity and flow. Stimulus‐responsive systems introduce on‐demand destabilisation by environmental triggers such as pH or temperature, enabling controlled release and recyclability. Collectively, these techniques have broad applications in food formulation, personal care, pharmaceuticals and oil recovery, and align with sustainability goals by reducing synthetic surfactant load and enabling bio-based structuring agents.
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Stabilization Techniques in Foam and Emulsion Systems publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in stabilization techniques in foam and emulsion systems across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Foam: Dispersion of gas bubbles in a continuous liquid phase, stabilised by interfacial agents.
Emulsion: Dispersion of droplets of one liquid within another immiscible liquid, often oil in water or water in oil.
Pickering stabilisation: Use of solid colloidal particles adsorbed at an interface to prevent coalescence.
Interfacial rheology: Study of mechanical properties and deformation behaviour of the interface film between two phases.
Bulk rheology: Measurement of flow and deformation properties of the continuous phase surrounding dispersed domains.
Oleogel: A semisolid network in an oil phase formed by crystallisation or polymer structuring to immobilise liquid oil.
References
- Whipped oil stabilised by surfactant crystals. Chemical Science (2016).
- Stability of bubbles in wax-based oleofoams: decoupling the effects of bulk oleogel rheology and interfacial rheology. Rheologica Acta (2020).
- Stimulus‐Responsive Gas Marbles as an Amphibious Carrier for Gaseous Materials. Advanced Science (2024).
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