title: Multi-body coalescence in Pickering emulsions.
abstract: Particle-stabilized Pickering emulsions have shown unusual behaviours such as the formation of non-spherical droplets and the sudden halt of coalescence between individual droplets. Here we report another unusual behaviour of Pickering emulsions-the simultaneous coalescence of multiple droplets in a single event. Using latex particles, silica particles and carbon nanotubes as model stabilizers, we show that multi-body coalescence can occur in both water-in-oil and oil-in-water emulsions. The number of droplets involved in the nth coalscence event equals four times the corresponding number of the tetrahedral sequence in close packing. Furthermore, coalescence is promoted by repulsive latex and silica particles but inhibited by attractive carbon nanotubes. The revelation of multi-body coalescence is expected to help better understand Pickering emulsions in natural systems and improve their designs in engineering applications.
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences, University of Notre Dame, 156 Fitzpatrick Hall, Notre Dame, Indiana 46556, USA.
authors.forename: Tong
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences, University of Notre Dame, 156 Fitzpatrick Hall, Notre Dame, Indiana 46556, USA.
authors.forename: Haitao
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Notre Dame, 182 Fitzpatrick Hall, Notre Dame, Indiana 46556, USA.
authors.forename: Benxin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Jing
authors.affiliation: Department of Applied and Computational Mathematics and Statistics, University of Notre Dame, 153 Hurley Hall, Notre Dame, Indiana 46556, USA.
authors.forename: Fang
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: 1] Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences, University of Notre Dame, 156 Fitzpatrick Hall, Notre Dame, Indiana 46556, USA [2] Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Notre Dame, 251 Nieuwland Science Hall, Notre Dame, Indiana 46556, USA.
authors.forename: Peter C
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Burns
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences, University of Notre Dame, 156 Fitzpatrick Hall, Notre Dame, Indiana 46556, USA.
authors.forename: Chongzheng
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Na