W/O/W-TYPE MULTIPLE EMULSIONS WITH A VIEW TO POSSIBLE FOOD APPLICATIONS

State of the art in nonthermal plasma processing for biomedical applications: Can it help fight viral pandemics like COVID-19?

Plasma processing finds widespread biomedical applications, such as the design of biosensors, antibiofouling surfaces, controlled drug delivery systems, and in plasma sterilizers. In the present coronavirus disease (COVID-19) situation, the prospect of applying plasma processes like surface activation, plasma grafting, plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition/plasma polymerization, surface etching, plasma immersion ion implantation, crosslinking, and plasma decontamination to provide timely solutions in the form of better antiviral alternatives, practical diagnostic tools, and reusable personal protective equipment is worth exploring. Herein, the role of nonthermal plasmas and their contributions toward healthcare are timely reviewed to engage different communities in assisting healthcare associates and clinicians, not only to combat the current COVID-19 pandemic but also to prevent similar kinds of future outbreaks.

Modular microfluidics for double emulsion formation

For many engineering applications such as manipulating two phase flows, generating single and double emulsions, and passively propelling liquids through channels, control over the surface energy of microfluidic channels is essential. In particular, double emulsion formation, which benefits from alternating hydrophobic and hydrophilic sections of channel, represents a challenge in fabricating controlled microfluidic channel surface properties. As double emulsions find further applications in single-cell handling and analysis, straightforward methods for generating them increase in value. Here, we present a method for generating double emulsions in microfluidic channels fabricated from modular fluidic blocks. By using a vapor-phase polymer coating technology-initiated chemical vapor deposition-we are able to fabricate blocks with varying surface properties. Assembling these blocks together then creates step-like changes in surface energy within a microchannel.

Soft matter food physics--the physics of food and cooking

This review discusses the (soft matter) physics of food. Although food is generally not considered as a typical model system for fundamental (soft matter) physics, a number of basic principles can be found in the interplay between the basic components of foods, water, oil/fat, proteins and carbohydrates. The review starts with the introduction and behavior of food-relevant molecules and discusses food-relevant properties and applications from their fundamental (multiscale) behavior. Typical food aspects from 'hard matter systems', such as chocolates or crystalline fats, to 'soft matter' in emulsions, dough, pasta and meat are covered and can be explained on a molecular basis. An important conclusion is the point that the macroscopic properties and the perception are defined by the molecular interplay on all length and time scales.

Influence of phase inversion on the formation and stability of one-step multiple emulsions

A novel method of preparation of water-in-oil-in-micelle-containing water (W/O/W(m)) multiple emulsions using the one-step emulsification method is reported. These multiple emulsions were normal (not temporary) and stable over a 60 day test period. Previously, reported multiple emulsion by the one-step method were abnormal systems that formed at the inversion point of simple emulsion (where there is an incompatibility in the Ostwald and Bancroft theories, and typically these are O/W/O systems). Pseudoternary phase diagrams and bidimensional process-composition (phase inversion) maps were constructed to assist in process and composition optimization. The surfactants used were PEG40 hydrogenated castor oil and sorbitan oleate, and mineral and vegetables oils were investigated. Physicochemical characterization studies showed experimentally, for the first time, the significance of the ultralow surface tension point on multiple emulsion formation by one-step via phase inversion processes. Although the significance of ultralow surface tension has been speculated previously, to the best of our knowledge, this is the first experimental confirmation. The multiple emulsion system reported here was dependent not only upon the emulsification temperature, but also upon the component ratios, therefore both the emulsion phase inversion and the phase inversion temperature were considered to fully explain their formation. Accordingly, it is hypothesized that the formation of these normal multiple emulsions is not a result of a temporary incompatibility (at the inversion point) during simple emulsion preparation, as previously reported. Rather, these normal W/O/W(m) emulsions are a result of the simultaneous occurrence of catastrophic and transitional phase inversion processes. The formation of the primary emulsions (W/O) is in accordance with the Ostwald theory ,and the formation of the multiple emulsions (W/O/W(m)) is in agreement with the Bancroft theory.

Controlled formulation of monodisperse double emulsions in a multiple-phase microfluidic system

This paper gives an overview of our recent work on the use of microfluidic devices to formulate double emulsions. Key issues in the controlled encapsulation of highly monodisperse drops include: (a) regular periodicity in the formation of micro droplets due to the interplay between viscous shearing and interfacial tension in low Reynolds number streams; (b) serially connected hydrophobic and hydrophilic microchannels to form aqueous and organic drops consecutively. Water-in-oil-in-water emulsions and oil-in-water-in-oil emulsions can both be produced by reversing the order of hydrophobic and hydrophilic junctions. Alternating formation of aqueous droplets at a cross junction has enabled the production of organic droplets that encase two aqueous droplets of differing compositions.

Controlled production of monodisperse double emulsions by two-step droplet breakup in microfluidic devices

A microfluidic device having both hydrophobic and hydrophilic components is exploited for production of multiple-phase emulsions. For producing water-in-oil-in-water (W/O/W) dispersions, aqueous droplets ruptured at the upstream hydrophobic junction are enclosed within organic droplets formed at the downstream hydrophilic junction. Droplets produced at each junction could have narrow size distributions with coefficients of variation in diameter of less than 3%. Control of the flow conditions produces variations in internal/external droplet sizes and in the internal droplet number. Both W/O/W emulsions (with two types of internal droplets) and oil-in-water-in-oil emulsions were prepared by varying geometry and wettability in microchannels.

Design of double emulsions by osmotic pressure tailoring

A method was developed allowing in situ adjustment of water-in-oil-in-water double emulsion (W/O/W) morphologies by tailoring the osmotic pressure of the water phases. The control of internal droplet size is achieved by altering the chemical potential of the external and internal water phases by dissolving neutral linear polysaccharides of suitable molecular weights. As a consequence of the different chemical potentials in the two aqueous phases, transport of water takes place modifying the initial morphology of the double emulsion. Self-diffusion 1H nuclear magnetic resonance (1H NMR) was used to assess transport mechanisms of water in oil, while a numerical model was developed to predict the swelling/shrinking behavior of W/O/W double emulsions. The model was based on a two-step procedure in which the equilibrium size of a single internal water droplet was first predicted and then the results of the single droplet were extended to the entire double emulsion. The prediction of the equilibrium size of an internal droplet was derived by the equalization of the Laplace pressure with the osmotic pressure difference of the two aqueous phases, as modeled by mean-field theory. The double emulsion equilibrium morphologies were then predicted by upscaling the results of a single drop to the droplet size distribution of the internal W/O emulsion. Good agreement was found between the theoretical predictions and the measurement of double emulsion droplet size distribution. Therefore, the present model constitutes a valuable tool for in situ control of double emulsion morphology and enables new possible applications of these colloidal systems.

Formulation of shear rate sensitive multiple emulsions

This work mainly concentrates on the formulation of W/O/W multiple emulsions capable of breaking and releasing their inner aqueous phase under shear rates compatible with agroalimentary, pharmaceutical and cosmetic applications. Three kinds of multiple emulsions were studied: one with a high concentration of primary emulsion, not viscosified in the external aqueous phase; multiple emulsions gelified with a synthetic polymer (Carbopol 974P((R))); and other multiple emulsions thickened with chemically modified cellulose (hydroxypropylcellulose). The results of this study show the influence of the composition of the external aqueous phase of the emulsions on their fragmentation and release as a function of the shear rate. Despite these differences of behavior with respect to the shear rate, each emulsion fits to Taylor's theoretical framework, indicating that the bursting mechanisms of the globules under shear are the same whatever the composition of the multiple emulsions.

Preparation and evaluation of w/o/w type emulsions containing vancomycin

The objective of this contribution is to summarize the preparation and application of water-in-oil-in-water type multiple emulsions (w/o/w emulsions) entrapping vancomycin (VCM). Formulations of the emulsions (the composition of an oily phase or the type and concentrations of surfactants) and emulsification methods (a stirring method and a membrane method) or conditions (rotation rates, pore sizes of membrane or operation pressures) were evaluated in order to prepare stable w/o/w emulsions. The pharmaceutical properties of the w/o/w emulsions - particle sizes, viscosity, phase separation and drug entrapment efficiency were measured and evaluated. We prepared stable w/o/w emulsions with a particle size of about 3 micrometer and an entrapment efficiency of VCM of about 70%. When this emulsion was administered intravenously to rats, plasma concentrations of VCM were prolonged compared to the VCM solution alone. The results of this study show the potential of the w/o/w emulsions for several clinical applications as one of the drug delivery systems.

Basic study for stabilization of w/o/w emulsion and its application to transcatheter arterial embolization therapy

Stabilization of w/o/w emulsion and its application to transcatheter arterial embolization (TAE) therapy are reviewed. W/o/w emulsion was stabilized by making inner aqueous phase hypertonic, addition of chitosan in inner phase, and techniques of phase-inversion with porous membrane. Lipiodol w/o/w emulsion for TAE therapy was prepared by using a two-step pumping emulsification procedure. The procedure is so easy that the emulsion could be prepared even during the surgical operation. The deposition after hepatic arterial administration of the emulsion was detected by an X-ray CT scanner. The concentration of epirubicin hydrochloride (EPI) in liver was increased and its residence was prolonged by encapsulating it in the w/o/w emulsion. The toxic effects of EPI and lipiodol on the normal hepatic cells were reduced. The w/o/w emulsion prepared by us is a suitable formulation for the TAE therapy.

Evaluation of an oleic acid water-in-oil-in-water-type multiple emulsion as potential drug carrier via the enteral route

A water-in-oil-in-water (W/O/W) emulsion composed of oleic acid was used as a carrier of carboxyfluorescein (CF) via the enteral route, as a model for future drug transport. The absorption of CF in the small intestine of rats given the emulsion (W/O/W group) was compared with the absorption in a group administered CF alone (CF group), and a group administered a mixed micelle of oleic acid and a surface-active agent in CF solution (MM group). Higher amounts of CF were absorbed in the W/O/W and MM groups than in the CF group. At 120 min, the amount of CF remaining in the intestinal tract was smaller in the MM group than in the W/O/W group. In the early period, CF excretion into bile was higher in the MM group than in the W/O/W group, but from 120 to 360 min, CF excretion in the W/O/W group was higher than in the MM group (non-specific). The blood CF level was significantly higher at 240 and 360 min in the W/O/W group than in the other two groups. The highest concentration in lymph was found in the W/O/W group. The W/O/W emulsion was considered superior to the micelles because it maintained a higher blood level of CF over long periods and transferred it to the lymph. This suggests that the W/O/W emulsion is applicable as a drug carrier via the enteral route.