Microemulsions: Definition, Properties, Modeling, and Design
October 22-23 , 2018
VIDEO LECTURES PART 1 OF 4:
VIDEO LECTURES PART 2 OF 4:
VIDEO LECTURES PART 3 OF 4:
VIDEO LECTURES PART 4 OF 4:
Professor Jeffrey Harwell
University of Oklahoma
ABSTRACT
A microemulsion is defined as an equilibrium dispersion of oil, water, and surfactant. Despite the name, domain sizes in microemulsion vary widely, depending on the system, so that microemulsions may be transparent to opaque. Microemulsions were first studied by Paul Winsor in the 1950s, but only became a focus of extensive research with the proposal for their use in the enhanced production of crude oil in the 1970s. Since that time there has been an explosion of applications of microemulsions, and a corresponding increase in the understanding, modeling, and design of microemulsions. Over the last decade there has been particular progress in predicting microemulsion properties using the Hydrophilic Lipophilic Deviation (HLD) equation introduced by Salager, in combination with the Net-Average Curvature (NAC) critical scaling model proposed by Acosta. Combined with innovations in determining the relationship between surfactant structure and HLD parameters, the field is on the verge of a revolution in designing surfactants for a wide range of applications. An example of the use of microemulsion theory will be given in the design of a shear-thickening emulsion, which forms stable, oil-swollen, wormlike micelles when sheared.
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