Rayleigh-B\'enard thermal convection in emulsions: a short review

Abstract

Thermally driven emulsions arise in a broad range of natural and industrial contexts, yet their fundamental physical understanding remains only partially established. Emulsions exhibit a complex, concentration-dependent rheology, ranging from Newtonian (dilute emulsions) to yield-stress (concentrated emulsions). In buoyancy-driven flows, the complex structure and rheology of the emulsion are strongly coupled to convective flows, giving rise to fascinating and non-trivial phenomena involving stability, transient dynamics, and morphological evolution of the system. We review recent progress on thermally driven emulsions in the celebrated Rayleigh-B\'enard configuration, offering new perspectives on the behaviour of soft materials in thermal convection.