Stability of thin emulsion film between two oil phases with a viscoelastic liquid-liquid interface.

The viscoelastic properties of adsorbed protein layer in food emulsions and foams are important in providing stability to such systems. Linear stability analysis for a protein stabilized aqueous film sandwiched between two semi-infinite oil phases with a viscoelastic liquid-liquid interface is presented. The interfacial dilatational and shear viscoelastic properties are described by Maxwell models. The aqueous film is found to be more stable for smaller values of dilatational (shear) relaxation times and larger values of interfacial dilatational (shear) viscosities. The asymptotic values of maximum growth coefficient for very large and very small values of interfacial dilatational (shear) viscosities were found to be independent of relaxation times and correspond to those for immobile and fully mobile liquid-liquid interfaces respectively. The aqueous film is shown to be more stable for larger viscosities of the oil phase with the maximum growth coefficient approaching zero as the ratio of viscosities of oil and aqueous phases approach very large values and an asymptotic value corresponding to that for a foam film for very small viscosity ratios.