Particle Stabilised Emulsions with Hydrophobic Additives

Condensed Matter lunchtime seminar

Particle Stabilised Emulsions with Hydrophobic Additives

  • Event time: 2:00pm
  • Event date: 10th September 2009
  • Speaker: Paul FitzGerald (University of Sydney Australia)
  • Location: Room 2511,

Event details

While it is easy to make a particle-stabilised emulsion of water-in-oil using polystyrene latex particles as a stabiliser, it is not necessarily straight forward to control this process or the emulsion properties when other components are added to either the oil or the aqueous phase. We seek to understand the effect that various electrolytes and surface active compounds (dispersed in both phases) have on the stability of the particle layer at the oil-water interface, and how this influences the stability of high volume fraction water-in-oil emulsions. We have investigated how the stability and order of polystyrene particles at the dodecane-aqueous solution interface is affected by electrolytes with varying surface activity and hydrophobicity (from ammonium bromide to tetrapentylammonium bromide), and by various surface active compounds, dispersed either in the oil or aqueous phase, with a range of head groups and tail lengths.

About Condensed Matter lunchtime seminars

This is a weekly series of informal talks given primarily by members of the institute of condensed matter and complex systems, but is also open to members of other groups and external visitors. The aim of the series is to promote discussion and learning of various topics at a level suitable to the broad background of the group. Everyone is welcome to attend..

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