2025 AIChE Annual Meeting

Rheological Characterization of Silicone Oil–Water Emulsions

When two liquids are immiscible and one liquid is dispersed into the other liquid via tiny droplets, it is known as an emulsion. In this study, the emulsion consists of 80% silicone oil as the dispersed phase and 20% continuous phase, the latter composed of 2% sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) and the remaining fraction water. Emulsions are classified as yield stress fluids, an important class of soft matter that exhibit complex rheological behavior. These materials display a characteristic yielding transition in which their response shifts from elastic solid-like behavior to viscous fluid-like flow. To better understand the behavior of emulsions, a series of rheological tests, including oscillatory shear, flow curve analysis, and large amplitude oscillatory shear (LAOS), were conducted to characterize their behavior under varying strains and deformation.