Precision emulsification for droplet and capsule production

•Precision production of emulsions is reviewed in terms of drop-by-drop mechanisms.•Interfacial activities of stable droplets are reviewed for the precision production.•Different membrane emulsification technologies are reviewed.•Microfluidic designs are reviewed for high throughput emulsification and complex structures.•Examples of complex microstructures of emulsions and microparticles are given.

Emulsions and microcapsules are typical structures in various dispersion formulations for pharmaceutical, food, personal and house care applications. Precise control over size and size distribution of emulsion droplets and microcapsules are important for effective use and delivery of active components and better product quality. Many emulsification technologies have been developed to meet different formulation and processing requirements. Among them, membrane and microfluidic emulsification as emerging technologies have the feature of being able to precisely manufacture droplets in a drop-by-drop manner to give subscribed sizes and size distributions with lower energy consumption. This paper reviews fundamental sciences and engineering aspects of emulsification, membrane and microfluidic emulsification technologies and their use for precision manufacture of emulsions for intensified processing. Generic application examples are given for single and double emulsions and microcapsules with different structure features.

Graphical abstractA large value of kd corresponds to a shorter τad,cr.Figure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slide