Emulsion - Emulsions Throughout History, Emulsions Are Created By Surfactants, Characteristics Of Emulsions, Uses Of Emulsions
water materials liquids products
An emulsion is a two phase system of immiscible liquids in which one liquid is dispersed in the other in the form of microscopic droplets. This dispersion is achieved through the use of emulsifying agents, known as surfactants, which act as chemical bridges between the two liquids. Emulsions provide a variety of benefits such as the ability to deliver water insoluble active materials from water based products, to improve control over a product's physical properties, and effectively dilute expensive or hazardous functional materials. These properties make emulsions useful in a variety of products including pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, paints and inks, pesticides, and foods.
Additional Topics
An emulsion can be described as a collection of tiny droplets of one liquid (e.g., an oil) dispersed in another liquid (e.g., water) in which it, the first liquid, is insoluble. Emulsions are formed by mixing these two liquids with a third substance, known as an emulsifier, which creates a uniform, stable dispersion of the first liquid in the second. Emulsifiers belong to the class of chemicals kn…
The resulting emulsion has physical properties different from either of its two components. For example, while water and oils are transparent, emulsions are usually opaque and may be designed to have a lustrous, pearlized appearance. While water and oil are thin free flowing liquids, emulsions can be made as thick creams which do not flow. Furthermore, the tactile and spreading properties of emuls…
Many functional chemical ingredients (such as drugs) are not water soluble and require alcohol or other organic solvents to form solutions. These solvents may be costly, hazardous to handle, or toxic. Emulsions are useful because they allow ways to deliver active materials in water which is inexpensive and innocuous. A related advantage of emulsions is they allow dilution of these active ingredien…
Citing this material
Please include a link to this page if you have found this material useful for research or writing a related article. Content on this website is from high-quality, licensed material originally published in print form. You can always be sure you're reading unbiased, factual, and accurate information.
Highlight the text below, right-click, and select “copy”. Paste the link into your website, email, or any other HTML document.
User Comments