Unravelling the mechanism of stabilization and microstructure of oil-in-water emulsions by native cellulose microfibrils in primary plant cells dispersions

It is long known that oil-in-water emulsions can be stable against coalescence in homogenized plant cell wall dispersions due to the presence of surface active biopolymers. When plant cell wall material is homogenized to the extent of deagglomeration of the cellulose microfibrils (CMFs), a much more complex dispersed system is obtained. Here we show that in such complex systems both surface active soluble polymers and individual CMFs are at the origin of this stabilization against coalescence, as they form a shell around the oil droplets providing Pickering-like stabilization. Individual CMFs and bundles of them in the presence of soluble biopolymers form a hybrid network in the continuous phase linking the droplets, creating a viscoelastic network that prevents the droplets from coalescing. Depletion induced attraction caused by soluble biopolymers and dispersed CMFs induces the formation of oil droplet clusters at low CMF concentrations leading to a highly heterogeneous distribution of oil droplets. This effect diminishes at high CMF concentrations at which the strong viscoelastic network arrests the droplets. These findings are important steps towards controlling complex dispersed systems comprising CMF – polymers mixtures with a second liquid or solid dispersed phase.