Recent developments in nanotechnology have facilitated the use of surface-active colloidal particles with tailor-made anisotropic properties. These surface-active agents have introduced unprecedented emulsion systems that exhibit qualitatively different self-assembled/organized structures and material properties from those of emulsions with conventional surfactants or isotropic colloidal particles. The author highlights the recent experimental works that elucidate the fundamental roles of anisotropy in the self-assembly/organization in emulsions, while focusing predominantly on amphiphilicity and morphological anisotropy in a particle. The author also introduces recent works that harness these fundamental properties of anisotropy for realizing the characteristic emulsion state and its functionality, together with a work with large particles beyond colloidal scale.

纳米技术的最新发展促进了具有定制各向异性特性的表面活性胶体颗粒的使用。这些表面活性剂已经引入了前所未有的乳液体系，该乳液体系与具有常规表面活性剂或各向同性胶体颗粒的乳液相比，在质量上具有不同的自组装/组织结构和材料性能。作者强调了最近的实验工作，这些工作阐明了各向异性在乳液的自组装/组织中的基本作用，同时主要关注颗粒的两亲性和形态各向异性。作者还介绍了利用各向异性的这些基本属性来实现特征性乳液状态及其功能的最新工作，