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Microemulsions: Effect of alkyl chain length of alcohol and alkane

  • Colloid Science
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Abstract

In microemulsions consisting of four components, i.e. detergent — water — oil — cosurfactant, the free energy of transfer from the continuous oil phase to the interfacial region for the cosurfactant is reported. From the effect of temperature on the free energy, the entropy and the enthalpy values are also reported. The effect of chain length of the alcohol (cosurfactant) is also described. It is further shown, that if the oil phase consists of hexadecane, then the free energy changes as a linear function of the number of carbon atoms in the cosurfactant. On the other hand, if the oil phase is benzene, the cosurfactant chain length has very little effect. These data are analyzed with respect to the microemulsion structure and stability.

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  1. K. S. Birdi

    Present address: Fysisk-Kemisk Institut, Technical University, Lyngby, Denmark

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    Birdi, K.S. Microemulsions: Effect of alkyl chain length of alcohol and alkane. Colloid & Polymer Sci 260, 628–631 (1982). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01422596

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    • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01422596

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