Stimuli-responsive emulsions: Recent advances and potential applications

Responsive emulsions are the emulsions that can be reversibly switched on-demand between stable and unstable by environmental stimulus or trigger, which allows a simple and effective adjustment approach to achieve emulsification and demulsification. In recent years, stimuli-responsive emulsions acting as smart soft material are received considerable attention with the advantages of simple manipulation, good reversibility, low cost, easy treatment, and little effect on the system. In this paper, the recent research progress of emulsions that can respond to external stimuli, including pH, light, magnetic field, CO2/N-2 and dual responsive are reviewed. Also, the potential applications based on responsive emulsion are discussed, such as catalytic reactions, heavy oil recovery, polymer particles synthesis and optical sensor, aiming to summarize the latest achievements and put forward the possible development trends of responsive emulsions. (C) 2021 The Chemical Industry and Engineering Society of China, and Chemical Industry Press Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

Researchers have made recent advances in responsive emulsions that can be controlled through external stimuli such as pH, light, magnetic fields, CO2/N-2, and dual responses. These responsive emulsions offer advantages such as simple manipulation, good reversibility, low cost, and potential applications in catalytic reactions, heavy oil recovery, polymer particle synthesis, and optical sensors.