Ma Qifei, Jin Huaizhou, Wang Weihong, Jin Shangzhong
College of Optical and Electronic Technology, China Jiliang University Hangzhou 310018 China
Key Laboratory of Quantum Precision Measurement, College of Physics, Zhejiang University of Technology Hangzhou 310014 China
RSC Adv. 2025 Apr 7;15(14):10816-10824. doi: 10.1039/d4ra08998g. eCollection 2025 Apr 4.
Emulsions stabilized by protein/polysaccharide complexes have attracted great interest. However, the emulsion properties and interactions between droplets at the microscale require further investigation. In this work, the interaction forces between two rice bran oil droplets stabilized by casein-chitosan complexes, with a diameter of 3 ± 0.1 μm (pH 5.54 and no-salt), were measured under different aqueous conditions (pH and ionic strength) using optical tweezers. The measured force curves exhibited consistency with the interfacial layer conformation and interfacial charge, as determined through fluorescence spectroscopy and zeta-potential analysis. Furthermore, atomic force microscopy (AFM) and optical microscopy were employed to characterize the morphology and structural evolution of the emulsions under varying environmental conditions. Our results provide a useful method for studying the interaction forces between Pickering emulsion droplets with pN force resolution and reveal the correlation between interfacial layer properties and physical stability, offering deep insights into the stabilization mechanism of Pickering emulsions.
由蛋白质/多糖复合物稳定的乳液引起了极大的关注。然而，乳液性质以及微尺度下液滴之间的相互作用仍需进一步研究。在本研究中，使用光镊在不同水相条件（pH值和离子强度）下测量了由酪蛋白-壳聚糖复合物稳定的两个直径为3±0.1μm（pH 5.54且无盐）的米糠油液滴之间的相互作用力。所测得的力曲线与通过荧光光谱法和ζ电位分析确定的界面层构象和界面电荷一致。此外，采用原子力显微镜（AFM）和光学显微镜来表征不同环境条件下乳液的形态和结构演变。我们的结果提供了一种以皮牛力分辨率研究Pickering乳液液滴间相互作用力的有用方法，并揭示了界面层性质与物理稳定性之间的相关性，为深入了解Pickering乳液的稳定机制提供了深刻见解。
