Thermoresponsive nanoemulsions find utility in applications ranging from food to pharmaceuticals to consumer products. Prior systems have found limited translation to applications due to cytotoxicity of the compositions and/or difficulties in scaling-up the process. Here, we report a route to thermally gel an oil-in-water nanoemulsion using a small amount of FDA-approved amphiphilic triblock Pluronic copolymers which act as gelling agents. At ambient temperature the suspension displays liquid-like behavior, and quickly becomes an elastic gel at elevated temperatures. We propose a gelation mechanism triggered by synergistic action of thermally-induced adsorption of Pluronic copolymers onto the droplet interface and an increased micelle concentration in the aqueous solution. We demonstrate that the system’s properties can be tuned via many factors and report their rheological properties. The nanoemulsions are prepared using a low-energy process which offers an efficient route to scale-up. The nanoemulsion formulations are well-suited for use in cosmetics and pharmaceutical applications.

热响应纳米乳液可用于从食品到药品到消费品的各种应用。由于组合物的细胞毒性和/或难以扩大工艺规模，现有系统已发现有限的应用转化。在这里，我们报告了一种使用少量 FDA 批准的两亲性三嵌段 Pluronic 共聚物作为胶凝剂对水包油纳米乳液进行热凝胶化的途径。在环境温度下，悬浮液表现出类似液体的行为，并在高温下迅速变成弹性凝胶。我们提出了由 Pluronic 共聚物热诱导吸附到液滴界面和水溶液中胶束浓度增加的协同作用触发的凝胶化机制。我们证明了系统的特性可以通过许多因素进行调整，并报告它们的流变特性。纳米乳液是使用低能量工艺制备的，该工艺提供了一种有效的放大途径。纳米乳液配方非常适合用于化妆品和药物应用。