Selection of an appropriate polymeric emulsifier

Manufacturers of emulsion-based products usually measure and compare the functional properties of emulsifiers in terms of parameters that depend on the processing procedure and formulation of their actual product, for example  

Other quantitative physical parameters that can be determined using fundamental analytical instruments under well-defined environmental conditions can be used to characterize and compare emulsifier properties  

Surface Load, Tco. The surface load at saturation is the mass of emulsifier adsorbed per unit surface area of interface when the interface is saturated with emulsifier, and is usually expressed as mg/m. The surface load provides a measure of the minimum amoimt of emulsifier required to produce an emulsion with a given surface area (or droplet size) the higher To, the greater the amount of emulsifier required to completely cover the same surface area. 

Maximum Surface Pressure, tTo,. The maximum surface pressure provides a measure of the ability of an emulsifier to decrease the oil-water interfacial tension, and thereby facilitate droplet disruption the higher rr ax. the lower the Laplace pressure and the smaller the droplets that can be produced in a homogenizer at a fixed energy input, provided there is sufficient emulsifier present and that it adsorbs rapidly to the droplet surfaces. 

Surface Activity, IICy. The surface activity is a measure of how strongly an emulsifier adsorbs to an oil-water interface (see above). The stronger the binding affinity (the higher llcy), the lower the concentration of emulsifier required to reach interfacial saturation. 

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