Small-angle scattering and morphologies of ultra-flexible microemulsions.

ABSTRACT: The phase diagrams of ternary mixtures of partly miscible solvents containing a hydrotropic co-solvent exhibit a variable miscibility gap and one critical point. This work investigates the entire monophasic region far from and near to the miscibility gap in octan-1-ol/ethanol/water, for which ultra-flexible micro-emulsions (UFMEs) are observed by small-angle scattering techniques. SWAXS (combined small- and wide-angle X-ray scattering) allows the elucidation of these types of structure. Three distinct areas can be identified in the phase diagram, with scattering data resembling those from direct, bicontinuous and reverse local structures. These UFMEs are far more polydisperse than their surfactant-based counterparts. Water-rich and solvent-rich domains are only delimited by a small excess

SUBMITTER: Prevost S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5139994 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature