Ultrathin plate-like colloidal particles are effective candidates for Pickering stabilization of water-in-water emulsions, a stabilization that is complicated by the thickness and ultralow tension of the water–water interface. Plate-like particles have the advantage of blocking much of the interface while simultaneously having a low mass. Additionally, the amount of blocked interface is practically independent of the equilibrium contact angle θ at which the water–water interface contacts the nanoplates. As a result, the adsorption of nanoplates is stronger than for spheres with the same maximal cross section, except if θ = 90°.

The non-ideality of the eutectic phase diagram is quantified using a single interaction parameter that could be determined directly from the experimental eutectic temperature of the mixture.

A promising approach to texturize water is by the addition of mutually incompatible polymers, leading to phase separation. Here, we demonstrate that the phase stability of aqueous polymer solutions is affected not only by chemical differences between the polymers but also by their electric charge. Direct electrochemical measurements are performed of the electric potential difference between two coexisting phases in aqueous solutions of the charged protein fish gelatin (nongelling) and the uncharged polysaccharide dextran. Charge counteracts demixing because of the entropic cost of confining the counterions to one phase, resulting in a strong shift of the critical point upon an increase of the charge on one of the polymers. Upon phase separation, the charged polymer is spatially confined, and due to the Donnan effect, an interfacial electric potential is developed. A direct proportionality is found between this Donnan potential and the difference in gelatin concentration in the two phases, for which we propose a theoretical explanation. The electrostatics may provide a new handle in the development of stable water-in-water emulsions.

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