0000000000136571
AUTHOR
Jürgen Vollmer
Temperature-dependent phase transitions in water-oil-surfactant mixtures: Experiment and theory
We investigate temperature induced phase transitions in mixtures of water, oil, and a nonionic surfactant. By microcalorimetric measurements it is shown that the droplet-lamellar transition shows hysteresis so that it is strongly first order. The position of this transition and of the emulsification boundary are quantitatively described by an interfacial model which considers solely the temperature dependence of the spontaneous curvature. There is no fit parameter in the model. Remarkably, the positions of both boundaries do not depend on the bending moduli. \textcopyright{} 1996 The American Physical Society.
Microemulsions: Phase transitions and their dynamics
By differential scanning microcalorimetry we investigate temperature-induced phase transitions and their dynamics in mixtures of water, oil and a non-ionic surfactant. Special emphasis is on an investigation of the transition from a lamellar to a microemulsion phase and on the emulsification failure. The first-order phase transition from a lamellar to a microemulsion phase leads to heat changes up to 1k BT per surfactant molecule. These large values for the latent heat are quantitatively described by an interfacial model which takes into account the temperature dependence of the spontaneous curvature.
Thermodynamic and kinetic properties of water–oil–surfactant mixtures
Abstract We present experimental data on thermodynamic and kinetic properties of the emulsification failure of a droplet-phase microemulsion, and model them by a bending free energy. In contrast to most other models used to describe water–oil–surfactant mixtures no entropic contributions are included in the present description. Still, there is quantitative agreement between theory and measurements, even though there are no free parameters in our model – only experimentally accessible material constants appear.
Number of metastable states of a chain with competing and anharmonicΦ4−like interactions
We investigate the number of metastable configurations of a Φ 4 -like model with competing and anharmonic interactions as a function of an effective coupling constant η. The model has piecewise harmonic nearest-neighbor and harmonic next-nearerst-neighbor interactions. The number M of metastable states in the configuration space increases exponentially with the number N of particles: M∞exp(vN). It is shown numerically that, outside the previously considered range |η|<1/3, v is approximately linearly decreasing with η for |η|<1 and that v=0 for η≥1. These findings can be understood by describing the metastable configurations as an arrangement of kink solitons whose width creases with η
Oscillations in the dynamics of temperature-driven phase separation
We examine the dynamics of the phase separation of a single phase of water-in-oil microemulsion droplets towards a phase of smaller droplets coexisting with a water-rich phase. Oscillations are observed in the turbidity of the mixture and in the specific heat, when this transition is induced by a continuous temperature increase. The oscillations indicate an unusual type of dynamics which involves an energy barrier only to be overcome by a large number of droplets collectively. It is due to the spontaneous curvature of the water-oil-interface, and conservation of volumes.