One-Step Inversion Process to a Janus Emulsion with Two Mutually Insoluble Oils

Abstract

High internal phase ratio (HIPR) aqueous Janus emulsions of two immiscible oils, silicone oil (SO) and a vegetable oil (VO), were prepared using a vibration mixer. The simple HIPR Janus emulsions, (VO + SO)/W, were found at weight fractions of the aqueous phase in excess of 0.3, while at a corresponding fraction of 0.1, a triple emulsion was obtained with the Janus emulsion forming a drop inside the vegetable oil to give a double Janus emulsion, (VO + SO)/W/VO, which in turn formed drops in the silicone oil resulting in a triple Janus emulsion (VO + SO)/W/VO/SO. Increasing the aqueous-phase fraction from 0.1 to 0.3 consequently meant an inversion, of which one intermediate stage was observed: a more complex configuration, e.g., one in which large SO drops with highly distorted VO drops attached were dispersed in a regular aqueous emulsion with spherical Janus (VO + SO) drops. A preliminary investigation was made into the destabilization process of the triple emulsions.