Irreversible shear-induced vitrification of droplets into elastic nanoemulsions by extreme rupturing

Many materials weaken through fracturing when subjected to extreme stresses. By contrast, we show that breaking down repulsive bits of matter dispersed in a viscous liquid can cause a dramatic and irreversible increase in the dispersion’s elasticity. Anionically stabilized microscale emulsions subjected to a history of high-pressure microfluidic flow can develop an unusually large elastic modulus as droplets are ruptured to the nanoscale, yielding “nanonaise.” As the droplet size approaches the Debye screening length, the nanoemulsion vitrifies. Consequently, the onset of elasticity for disordered uniform nanoemulsions can occur at droplet volume fractions far below maximal random jamming of spheres.