Acknowledgements

This material is based upon the work supported by the Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB), Department of Science and Technology, India. The author would like to thank Dr. B.L.V. Prasad.

Author details

103

Kaustav Bhattacharjee

CSIR-National Chemical Laboratory, Pune, India

Importance of Surface Energy in Nanoemulsion DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.84201

provided the original work is properly cited.

\*Address all correspondence to: kaustavbhattacharjee@gmail.com

© 2019 The Author(s). Licensee IntechOpen. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/ by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium,

Importance of Surface Energy in Nanoemulsion DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.84201

trademarks which distinguished it from the conventional microemulsion. Droplets having dimension in the order of few tens of nanometers are unstable due to the high difference in vapor pressure outside and inside the curved interface. The presence of polydispersity in the droplet size leads to the difference in their chemical potential (and hence solubility), which acts as a fuel for the transfer of mass between two droplets. However, with the help of a proper stabilizing layer of polymer (favorable volume to [head group area length] ratio) or surfactant, we can achieve the necessary repulsive barrier (electrostatic, steric or electro-steric) against their coalescence. Concurrently though, it also raises the question of whether the additive (surfactant or polymer) can affect the rate of Ostwald ripening during the mass transfer process. With the proper knowledge of the surfactant properties (HLB and other surfactant parameters), one can effectively fabricate a stable nano-dispersion for a particular combination of dispersed and continuous

Nanoemulsions - Properties, Fabrications and Applications

In order to leverage the knowledge of structure-property-function relationship for nanoemulsion, a continuous effort in research and development is required in this direction. The recent advances in nanoemulsion fabrication with reduced polydispersity in droplet size distribution are likely to provide new avenue to the researcher for achieving their desired functionality. Indeed, we are not so far to fabricate smart nanoemulsion (decorated, functionalized and internally structured) which can act as a vaccine or drug delivery vehicle to provide enhanced therapeutic response to biological system. Molecular design of amphiphiles can lead to new stable nanoemulsion topologies such as double nanoemulsion. Aggregate/gel can be formed by attractive nanoemulsion droplets by introducing strong opposite screening layer, or elastic verification in the system of repulsive nanoemulsion can be made through high-flow emulsification that cause extreme droplet rupturing.

Overall, nanoemulsions are very promising and flexible soft-matter systems, and

This material is based upon the work supported by the Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB), Department of Science and Technology, India. The author

they offer outstanding potential for new advances in basic science, customized

colloidal design and high-value applications.

would like to thank Dr. B.L.V. Prasad.

Acknowledgements

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phase.

7. Outlook
