Emulsion Science : Basic Principles

This book gives an overview of the most recent advances in emulsion science, from the preparation to the destruction of these materials. This book is intended for a large audience, from undergraduate students to senior scientists. A progressive and didactic approach is proposed for that purpose. The concepts presented should provide a useful guidance for formulating and controlling the lifetime of emulsion at laboratory and industrial scales. For easy comprehension, the text is illustrated by more than 70 figures.

This book is a new edition of the one published in the series "Springer Tracts in Modern Physics (vol. 181)". The main difference is a more didactic approach which will allow the non-specialist reader to capture the essential concepts. We shall also incorporate the very last research results (solid-stabilized emulsions, metastability) and novel applications (Biotechnology).

Emulsions are generally made out of two immiscible fluids like oil and water, one being dispersed in the second in the presence of surface-active compounds.They are used as intermediate or end products in a huge range of areas including the food, chemical, cosmetic, pharmaceutical, paint, and coating industries. Besides the broad domain of technological interest, emulsions are raising a variety of fundamental questions at the frontier between physics and chemistry. This book aims to give an overview of the most recent advances in emulsion science. The basic principles, covering aspects of emulsions from their preparation to their destruction, are presented in close relation to both the fundamental physics and the applications of these materials. The book is intended to help scientists and engineers in formulating new materials by giving them the basics of emulsion science.