Regensburg 2013 – scientific programme

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CPP: Fachverband Chemische Physik und Polymerphysik

CPP 49: Colloids and Complex Liquids III

CPP 49.6: Talk

Friday, March 15, 2013, 11:00–11:15, H40

Colloidal particles at liquid interfaces — •Jens Harting, Stefan Frijters, and Florian Günther — Department of Applied Physics, Eindhoven University of Technology, Den Dolech 2, 5600MB Eindhoven

Emulsions stabilized by particles are ubiquitous in the food and cosmetics industry, but our understanding of the influence of microscopic fluid-particle and particle-particle interactions on the macroscopic rheology is still limited. Modern simulation algorithms based on a multicomponent lattice Boltzmann model to describe the solvents combined with a molecular dynamics solver for the description of the suspended particles allow to tune the particle size, shape, wettability and surface tensions between the fluids.

We report on the adsorption of spherical or ellipsoidal particles to liquid interfaces and demonstrate the existence of stable and semi-stable equilibrium states. On larger scales, different phases of stabilized emulsions have been found. While Pickering emulsions are already known for more than a century, so-called bicontinuous interfacially jammed emulsion gels (Bijels) where only predicted recently. The particles can fully arrest domain growth and a transition between both phases can be found by tuning the concentration, contact angle, or fluid ratio. Further, by tuning the particle shape additional geometrical degrees of freedom add additional time scales to the arrest of domain growth.