Charge-Controlled Colloids on Liquid-Liquid Interfaces*

The tendency of colloidal particles to stabilize interfaces has been exploited for many years to generate Pickering emulsions with a variety of industrial applications. However, the exact stabilization mechanism and its dependence on the surface properties of the colloidal particles are not yet fully understood. We provide new interfacial studies on the nonequilibrium dynamics of a colloidal system with tunable surface charge density. We push individual sub-micron colloidal particles towards an oil-water interface and track their motion in three-dimensions using holographic microscopy to examine the influence of zeta potential on the dynamics of the system.