Small angle neutron scattering studies of critical phenomena in a three-component microemulsion

Critical density fluctuations of a ``water-in-oil`` microemulsion consisting of water, benzene, and BHDC (benzyldimethyl-n-hexadecyl ammonium chloride) were observed near the phase boundary by SANS. Observed profiles were well described by product of a form factor of spherical droplets and a structure factor, consisting of a term describing the inter-droplet correlations and also an Ornstein- Zernike component describing the droplet density fluctuations. Allowance was also made fro droplet polydispersity,though the width of the distribution turned out to be very small (1-2%). Observed temperature dependence of osmotic compressibility was fitted using the crossover function proposed by Belya…