Kinetics of the Change in Droplet Size during Nanoemulsion Formation

The evolution of droplet size during nanoemulsion formation is critical for the rational design of nanoemulsions in areas such as drug delivery and materials synthesis. In this article, we discuss the relative importance of various time scales involved in nanoemulsion formation and propose a population balance model for droplet breakup that takes into account the droplet’s internal viscosity. The proposed model gives a qualitative agreement between average droplet size and polydispersity data for nanoemulsions prepared by high-pressure homogenization and ultrasonication. On the basis of these modeling results, we propose a correlation to obtain a parity plot for the droplet size data. We show that our model and correlation also work well with data from the existing literature. The proposed model and correlation can be used to guide future population balance studies and experimental preparation of nanoemulsions.