In-Situ Continuous Monitoring of the Viscosity of Surfactant-Stabilized and Nanoparticles-Stabilized Pickering Emulsions

An in-situ method of measuring the viscosity of unstable and stable emulsions on a continuous basis under agitation conditions was developed and utilized to investigate the viscous behaviour of surfactant-stabilized and nanoparticles-stabilized oil-in-water (O/W) emulsions at different volume fractions of the dispersed phase (oil). The stability characteristics (droplet size and phase-separation) of emulsions under quiescent conditions were also determined with the aging of emulsions. Emulsions are Newtonian at low volume fractions of the dispersed phase. At high concentrations of the dispersed phase, emulsions behave as non-Newtonian shear-thinning fluids. The nanoparticles-stabilized (Pickering) emulsions are unstable in comparison with the surfactant-stabilized emulsions. The droplet sizes of Pickering emulsions increase rapidly with aging, whereas the droplet sizes of surfactant-stabilized remain nearly the same over a period of 24 h. However, Pickering emulsions are much more viscous than the surfactant-stabilized emulsions when comparison is made at the same volume fraction of the dispersed phase.