Mixed micelles as delivery systems for enhanced emulsifier adsorption at the air/water interface: Sodium stearoyl lactylate (SSL)/Tween80 solutions

Application of emulsifiers for water-based or water-contained heterogeneous food systems is often restricted by their very low solubility in aqueous media and, therefore, by their very low equilibrium bulk concentration. As a consequence, only very slow adsorption rates can be attained. On the other hand, the rate of adsorption from micellar solutions is found to be very fast because of the significant enhancement of matter transfer by means of micelles as containers. In this way, even surfactants with a very low critical micelle concentration (CMC) or non-micellar surfactants could be involved in such adsorption enhanced processes due to mixed micelles formation existing for many binary systems composed of substances with different micellization ability. This general mechanism of micellar promoted adsorption is realized in binary systems having great importance for applied food science and food industry.