Influence of particle wettability on foam formation in honey.

The rising level of obesity is often attributed to high sugar and/or fat consumption. Therefore, the food industry is constantly searching for ways to reduce or eliminate sugar or fat in food products. Therefore, honey foam, which contains little sugar and no fat, can be used as cake, cracker or bread spread instead of butter or margarine which contains a substantial amount of fat or jam that contains a substantial amount of sugar. Small solid particles (nanometers to micrometers) of suitable wettability are now considered outstanding foam-stabilizing agents. However, while the degree of particle wettability necessary to obtain very stable aqueous and nonaqueous foams is well-known, that needed to obtain very stable honey foam is unknown. In this study, the influence of the degree of wettability of fumed silica particles, indicated by their % SiOH (14-100), was investigated in honey in relation to foam formation and foam stability. The honephilic particles (61%-100% SiOH) formed particle dispersion in honey, while foams were obtained with the honephobic particles (14%-50% SiOH). The thread-off between particle dispersion and foam formation occurs at 50% SiOH, meaning foam formation in honey is possible when the particles are at least 50% honephobic. At relatively low particle concentration <1 wt.%, foam volume decreases with increasing honephobicity, but increases with honephobicity at relatively high concentration >1 wt.%. Also, as particle concentration increases, the shape of the air bubbles in the foam changes from spherical to non-spherical. After a little drainage, the foams remain stable to drainage and did not coalesce substantially for more than six months. These findings will guide the formulation of edible Pickering honey foams.

Growing a particle-stabilized aqueous foam.

HYPOTHESIS: Certain gas-filled colloidal particles expand upon heating. If such particles are surface-active and stabilize aqueous foams, do the foams grow with temperature as particles expand? EXPERIMENTS: Aqueous foams were stabilized with hollow micro-spherical particles that are partially wetted by water and grow upon heating. Foams were prepared using two different approaches, both of which led to their growth. In the first, water was heated to various temperatures (40-80 °C) and aerated in the presence of the particles. In the second, water at room temperature was aerated in the presence of the particles and then heated to various temperatures (40-85 °C). FINDINGS: Regardless of the method, foam volume began to increase on raising the temperature to the onset of particle growth (60 °C) as expected and increased with increasing temperature. However, placing the particles on hot water (80 °C) and waiting for several minutes (≤2.5) before aeration resulted in more growth. The volume of foam after growth remained unchanged after cooling for over six months, giving rise to ultra-stable foams.

Double oil-in-oil-in-oil emulsions stabilised solely by particles.

The stability of vegetable oil-in-100cS silicone oil-in-vegetable oil V/S/V emulsions to sedimentation and coalescence has been studied. The emulsions contained two types of silica particle of different surface silanol content, 70% and 20% SiOH, which prefer to stabilise 100cS silicone oil-in-vegetable oil S/V and vegetable oil-in-100cS silicone oil V/S emulsions respectively, in systems containing equal proportion of the oils. The emulsions were prepared in a two-step process and were characterised using the drop test and optical microscopy. The emulsions were completely stable to coalescence for over a month. However, they underwent sedimentation which decreases as the concentration of 70% SiOH silica particles stabilising the silicone oil globules increases. The gravity-induced sedimentation halted at a relatively high particle concentration (2wt.%) and negligible amount of the vegetable oils was released even after a month. Their average droplet diameter also decreases as the concentration of 70% SiOH silica particles increases. Values of oil-oil-solid particle contact angles θoo, measured on microscope glass slides composed of the particles, are in good agreement with the type of simple emulsions and hence double emulsions formed by the particles.

Particle-Stabilized Powdered Water-in-Oil Emulsions.

The preparation of powdered water-in-oil (w/o) emulsions by gentle aeration of w/o emulsions stabilized by hydrophobic fumed silica particles in the presence of oleophobic fluorinated clay particles is reported for an alkane and a triglyceride oil. The resultant powders consist of water drops dispersed in oil globules themselves dispersed in air (w/o/a). They contain ∼80 wt % of the precursor w/o emulsion and were stable to phase separation for over 1 year but release oil and water when sheared on a substrate. Above a certain ratio of w/o emulsion:fluorinated clay particles, the powdered emulsions partially invert to an emulsion paste, composed of air bubbles and water droplets dispersed in oil. The tap density and angle of repose of the powdered emulsions were measured and compared with those of the corresponding powdered oils making up the continuous phase of the precursor emulsions. The contact angles of water droplets under oil on glass slides spin coated with silica particles and oil drops and w/o emulsion droplets in air on compressed disks of fluorinated clay particles are consistent with the stabilization of w/o emulsions and powdered emulsions, respectively.

Oil-in-oil emulsions stabilised solely by solid particles.

A brief review of the stabilisation of emulsions of two immiscible oils is given. We then describe the use of fumed silica particles coated with either hydrocarbon or fluorocarbon groups in acting as sole stabilisers of emulsions of various vegetable oils with linear silicone oils (PDMS) of different viscosity. Transitional phase inversion of emulsions, containing equal volumes of the two oils, from silicone-in-vegetable (S/V) to vegetable-in-silicone (V/S) occurs upon increasing the hydrophobicity of the particles. Close to inversion, emulsions are stable to coalescence and gravity-induced separation for at least one year. Increasing the viscosity of the silicone oil enables stable S/V emulsions to be prepared even with relatively hydrophilic particles. Predictions of emulsion type from calculated contact angles of a silica particle at the oil-oil interface are in agreement with experiment provided a small polar contribution to the surface energy of the oils is included. We also show that stable multiple emulsions of V/S/V can be prepared in a two-step procedure using two particle types of different hydrophobicity. At fixed particle concentration, catastrophic phase inversion of emulsions from V/S to S/V can be effected by increasing the volume fraction of vegetable oil. Finally, in the case of sunflower oil + 20 cS PDMS, the study is extended to particles other than silica which differ in chemical type, particle size and particle shape. Consistent with the above findings, we find that only sufficiently hydrophobic particles (clay, zinc oxide, silicone, calcium carbonate) can act as efficient V/S emulsion stabilisers.

Particles at Oil-Air Surfaces: Powdered Oil, Liquid Oil Marbles, and Oil Foam.

The type of material stabilized by four kinds of fluorinated particles (sericite and bentonite platelet clays and spherical zinc oxide) in air-oil mixtures has been investigated. It depends on the particle wettability and the degree of shear. Upon vigorous agitation, oil dispersions are formed in all the oils containing relatively large bentonite particles and in oils of relatively low surface tension (γla < 26 mN m(-1)) like dodecane, 20 cS silicone, and cyclomethicone containing the other fluorinated particles. Particle-stabilized oil foams were obtained in oils having γla > 26 mN m(-1) where the advancing air-oil-solid contact angle θ lies between ca. 90° and 120°. Gentle shaking, however, gives oil-in-air liquid marbles with all the oil-particle systems except for cases where θ is <60°. For oils of tension >24 mN m(-1) with omniphobic zinc oxide and sericite particles for which advancing θ ≥ 90°, dry oil powders consisting of oil drops in air which do not leak oil could be made upon gentle agitation up to a critical oil:particle ratio (COPR). Above the COPR, catastrophic phase inversion of the dry oil powders to air-in-oil foams was observed. When sheared on a substrate, the dry oil powders containing at least 60 wt % of oil release the encapsulated oil, making these materials attractive formulations in the cosmetic and food industries.

Dry oil powders and oil foams stabilised by fluorinated clay platelet particles.

A series of platelet sericite particles coated to different extents with a fluorinating agent has been characterised and their behaviour in mixtures with air and oil studied. The material which forms by vigorous shaking depends on both the surface tension of the oil and the surface energy of the particles which control their degree of wetting. Oil dispersions are formed in liquids of relatively low tension (<22 mN m(-1)), e.g. hexane and cyclomethicone, for all particles. Particle-stabilised air-in-oil foams form in liquids of higher tension, e.g. dodecane and phenyl silicone, where the advancing three-phase contact angle θ, measured on a planar substrate composed of the particles into the liquid, lies between ca. 65° and 120°. For oils of tension above 27 mN m(-1) like squalane and liquid paraffin with particles for which θ > 70°, we have discovered that dry oil powders in which oil drops stabilised by particles dispersed in air (oil-in-air) can be prepared by gentle mixing up to a critical oil : particle ratio (COPR) and do not leak oil. These powders, containing up to 80 wt% oil, release the encapsulated oil when sheared on a substrate. For many of the systems forming oil powders, stable liquid oil marbles can also be prepared. Above the COPR, catastrophic phase inversion occurs yielding an ultra-stable air-in-oil foam. We thus demonstrate the ability to disperse oil drops or air bubbles coated with particles within novel materials.