Rayleigh-Bénard 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 nontrivial phenomena involving stability, transient dynamics, and morphological evolution of the system. We review recent progress on thermally driven emulsions in the celebrated Rayleigh-Bénard configuration, offering new perspectives on the behaviour of soft materials in thermal convection.