Surface phase transitions in surfactant adsorption layers are known to affect the dynamic properties of foams and to induce surface nucleation in freezing emulsion drops. Recently, these transitions were found to play a role in several other phenomena, opening new opportunities for controlling foam and emulsion properties. This review presents a brief outlook of the emerging opportunities in this area. Three topics are emphasized: (1) The use of surfactant mixtures for inducing phase transitions on bubble surfaces in foams; (2) The peculiar properties of natural surfactants saponins which form extremely viscoelastic surface layers; and (3) The main phenomena in emulsions, for which the surface phase transitions are important. The overall conclusion from the reviewed literature is that surface phase transitions could be used as a powerful tool to control many foam and emulsion properties, but we need deeper understanding of the underlying phenomena to explore fully these opportunities.

已知表面活性剂吸附层中的表面相变会影响泡沫的动力学性质并在冷冻乳液滴中引起表面成核。最近，发现这些转变在其他几种现象中也起作用，为控制泡沫和乳液性能提供了新的机会。这篇综述简要地介绍了该领域正在出现的机会。强调了三个主题：（1）使用表面活性剂混合物在泡沫的气泡表面上诱导相变；（2）天然表面活性剂皂苷的独特性能，形成了极强的粘弹性表面层；（3）乳液中的主要现象，对于这些现象，表面相变很重要。