(136g) The Impact of Oil Composition on Emulsion Formation and Stability

It is well known that the low-energy emulsification is very dependent on a number of factors, not the least of which is the chemical nature of the oil. Medium chain triglycerides (MCT) and long chain triglycerides (LCT) are good candidates for self-emulsification systems, while non-polar oils, such as paraffin oil, typically require high energy mixing to form emulsions. In this study, triglycerides and fatty acids were mixed with paraffin oil, and their effectiveness in forming self-emulsifying emulsions upon their addition to water was investigated. When the oil phase was comprised of paraffin oil and either a MCT or LCT, droplet sizes on the order of 50 nm were obtained.   The stability of these emulsions exhibited similar trends as a function of the triglyceride/paraffin oil composition.  When a short chain triglyceride (tributyrin) was employed, the smallest droplet size observed was 705 nm, and the emulsions formed were very unstable.  The droplet size, polydispersity index, zeta potential, time required for emulsion formation, and emulsion stability for these systems will be described as functions of the oil phase composition.