This book presents a comprehensive investigation of the complex scientific principles and practical applications of emulsions, offering valuable references for researchers, industry professionals, and advanced students in the fields of physical chemistry, material sciences, and engineering. The book is structured in three sections, which allow the readers to explore the fundamental principles of interfacial phenomena, the methodologies for emulsion preparation, and the diverse applications of emulsions in various industrial branches in depth.

The initial section establishes the fundamental principles, with a particular focus on the physico-chemical characterization of interfaces pertinent to emulsion stabilization. The book meticulously examines several topics, including adsorption dynamics, particle-laden interfaces and thin liquid films. It supports these discussions with a combination of experimental techniques and theoretical insights. The second section shifts focus to the practical aspects of emulsion production, examining state-of-the-art methods, the role of stabilizers, and strategies for enhancing their stability, including innovations in nanoemulsions and aqueous two-phase systems. The final section presents several real-world applications, demonstrating the significant role that emulsions play in a number of fields, including the petroleum industry, pest control and pharmaceutical formulations.

This text, featuring contributions from leading experts, synthesizes foundational knowledge and cutting-edge research, thereby bridging the gap between theory and practice. With an interdisciplinary scope, the book addresses both academic and industrial perspectives, and is therefore an indispensable addition to the library of anyone working with emulsions. It provides the tools and understanding required to advance work in the development of new materials, optimization of formulations, and investigation of the mechanics of interfacial systems.

Reinhard Miller

July 10, 1950 in Biesenthal, Germany

Associated Senior Scientist at Institute for Condensed Matter Physics

Technical University Darmstadt, Germany

Darmstadt, May 15, 2024

He studied Mathematics at University of Rostock (1969-1973) and Colloid Chemistry at the Technical University Dresden (1977-1978), Germany. He got his PhD in 1978 and Habilitation in 1988, both at the Academy of Sciences in Berlin, Germany, on problems of adsorption kinetics and dilational visco-elasticity of surfactants. 1992-2015 Dr. Miller worked as Group-Leader at the Max Planck Institute for Colloids and Interfaces in Potsdam/Golm in the field of thermodynamics, kinetics and mechanics of surfactant and protein adsorption layers at liquid-fluid interfaces. 2015-2019 he was Senior scientist at the same Max Planck Institute for Colloids and Interface. Since 2020 he is Associate senior scientist in the Institute for Soft Matter Physics, TU Darmstadt. He is presently the Editor of the book series with Taylor and Francis “Progress in Colloid and Interface Science”, (so far 7 Volumes). Dr. Reinhard Miller was President of the “European Colloid and Interface Society” ECIS (2012-2014) and President of the “International Association of Colloid and Interface Scientists” IACIS (2015-2018). His scientific interests are dynamics and mechanics of liquid interfaces, thermodynamics of adsorption of surfactants, proteins, polymers, particles and their mixtures, interfacial interactions and 2D shear and dilational rheology, formation and stability of foams and emulsions. He published about 715 papers in referenced journals (Web of Science), about 50 chapters in books, about 50 contributions to printed conference proceedings. He has a h-index of 67 (Web of Science), 70 (Scopus) and 84 (Google Scholar). ORCID: 0000-0001-8943-7521.

Eduardo Guzmán

Eduardo Guzmán was born in 1981 in Madrid (Spain) and is Associate Professor of Physical Chemistry at the University Complutense of Madrid (UCM), Spain. He received his Ph.D. in Chemistry at the University Complutense of Madrid in 2009 under the supervision of Prof. Ramón González Rubio and Francisco Ortega, where he carried out studies on the fabrication and physicochemical properties of polyelectrolyte multilayers obtained by the Layer-by-Layer method. From 2010 to 2014 he worked as a postdoctoral researcher with Dr. Libero Liggieri and Dr. Francesca Ravera (Istituto per l'Energetica e le Interfasi, Italy) on the effect of nanoparticles in the interfacial properties of models mimicking the behavior of the lung surfactant layer. In 2014, he returned to the UCM as Juan de la Cierva Fellow, obtaining an Assistant Professor position in February 2016 and then in March 2020 he was appointed as Associate Professor. He has co-supervised three PhD Thesis. He has been involved several EU and Spanish funded I+D grants and has been scientific responsible of 5 cooperation projects between academia and industry. He is member of the editorial board of different scientific journals, including Coatings (Editor in Chief of the Section “Liquid-Fluid Interfaces”), Polymers, Advances in Colloid and Interface Science and Colloids and Interfaces, and from 2023 he is coeditor of the book series Progress in Colloid and Interface Science