Microgels at liquid interfaces

At liquid interfaces: some Microgels/Nanogels adsorb at the air-water interface or at the oil-water interface. Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (pNIPAM) microgels are thermoresponsive.

Therefore, the application of a stimulus can trigger:

• Oil-in-water emulsions are stable at low temperature and destabilize on demand when heated above the volume phase transition;

• The emulsions are stable for months at rest;

• Microgels are deformed at the interface: they can be flattened or compressed, depending on the emulsification pathway;

• The macroscopic properties of the emulsions depend on the conformation of microgels at the interface

• Microgel deformability is an important criteria to control emulsion stability.

Conformation of microgels at the drop surface