乳液凝胶是一类柔软的固体状材料。这些复合材料在结构上是掺有乳液滴的聚合物凝胶基质（乳液填充的凝胶），或者是聚集的乳液滴的网络（乳液颗粒凝胶）。乳胶越来越多地用于制药，化妆品和食品工业。

本文回顾了乳液凝胶的制备方法，并描述了影响凝胶性质和功能的因素。解释了聚合物-表面活性剂相互作用对乳液凝胶体系流变学的影响。然后，研究了油滴的不可逆和可逆聚集，这是制造乳液颗粒凝胶的基础。

取决于其界面组成的油滴在乳液填充的凝胶中充当活性或非活性填充剂。起作用的油滴可以增加凝胶模量，而非活性的油滴通常会削弱凝胶质地。表面活性剂和聚合物之间的相互作用会影响填料对凝胶基质的亲和力，这对乳液的凝胶流变学具有重大影响。对于基于蛋白质的乳液凝胶，表面活性剂也可能影响蛋白质的展开和聚集。

乳液的原位凝胶化可以由环境因素触发，例如加工和存储过程中的温度变化，也可以由生理刺激（例如胃中的酸性pH）触发。用于形成乳液颗粒凝胶的聚类方法可用于控制胃肠道中脂质的消化率。可以通过杂聚技术实现在单个递送系统中包封两种或更多种不同的亲脂性组分的能力。

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Background

Emulsion gels are a class of soft solid-like materials. These composite materials are structurally either a polymeric gel matrix into which emulsion droplets are incorporated (emulsion-filled gels), or a network of aggregated emulsion droplets (emulsion particulate gels). Emulsion gels are increasingly used in pharmaceutics, cosmetics and food industries.

This article reviews fabrication methods of emulsion gels, and describes factors that influence gel properties and functionality. Effect of polymer-surfactant interactions on the rheology of emulsion gel systems is explained. Then, irreversible and reversible clustering of oil droplets as the basis of making emulsion particulate gels is deliberated.

Oil droplets depending on their interfacial composition act as either active or inactive fillers in an emulsion-filled gel. Actively functioning oil droplets can increase gel modulus, whereas, inactive oil droplets typically weaken gel texture. Interactions between surfactants and polymers, which influences filler affinity to gel matrix, have significant consequences on emulsion gel rheology. For protein-based emulsion gels, surfactant may also influence proteins unfolding and aggregation.

In situ gelation of an emulsion can be triggered by environmental factors such as temperature changes during processing and storage or by physiological stimuli such as acidic pH in the stomach. The clustering approach, which is used to form emulsion particulate gels may be utilized to control digestibility of lipids in the gastrointestinal tract. The capability of encapsulating two or more different lipophilic components within a single delivery system may be achieved via heteroaggregation technique.