From Bijels to Pickering emulsions: a lattice Boltzmann study

TL;DR

This study introduces a lattice Boltzmann and molecular dynamics simulation framework to explore how microscopic interactions influence the formation and transition of particle-stabilized emulsions like bijels and Pickering emulsions.

Contribution

The paper presents a novel simulation algorithm combining lattice Boltzmann and molecular dynamics to model fluid-particle interactions in emulsions with variable properties and contact angles.

Findings

Demonstrated the model's ability to simulate emulsion transitions

Analyzed effects of contact angle, particle concentration, and solvent ratio

Provided insights into microscopic influences on macroscopic rheology

Abstract

Particle stabilized emulsions are ubiquitous in the food and cosmetics industry, but our understanding of the influence of microscopic fluid-particle and particle-particle interactions on the macroscopic rheology is still limited. In this paper we present a simulation algorithm based on a multicomponent lattice Boltzmann model to describe the solvents combined with a molecular dynamics solver for the description of the solved particles. It is shown that the model allows a wide variation of fluid properties and arbitrary contact angles on the particle surfaces. We demonstrate its applicability by studying the transition from a "bicontinuous interfacially jammed emulsion gel" (bijel) to a "Pickering emulsion" in dependence on the contact angle, the particle concentration, and the ratio of the solvents.