  Dispersions of immiscible liquids, such as emulsions and polymer blends, are
at the core of many industrial applications which makes the understanding of
their properties (morphology, stability, etc.) of great interest. A wide range
of these properties depend on interfacial phenomena, whose understanding is
therefore of particular importance. The behaviour of interfacial tension in
emulsions and polymer blends is well-understood -both theoretically and
experimentally -in the case of non-reactive stabilization processes using
pre-made surfactants. However, this description of the interfacial tension
behaviour in reactive systems, where the stabilizing agents are created in-situ
(and which is more efficient as a stabilization route for many systems), does
not yet find a consensus amongst the community. In this review, we compare the
different theories which have been developed for non-reactive and for reactive
systems, and we discuss their ability to capture the behaviour found
experimentally. Finally, we address the consequences of the reactive
stabilization process both on the global emulsions or polymer blend
morphologies and at the interfacial scale.
