Spontaneous emulsification is an intriguing phenomenon; whose understanding is of much scientific interest. Substantial research work has been reported on it but the mechanisms of this process are not yet fully understood. Current applications in drug-delivery systems and petroleum industry require deeper understanding of spontaneous emulsification. In the present work, FT-IR imaging spectroscopy with a Focal Plane Array (FPA) detector has been used. This analytical technique has the advantage to allow the identification of chemical compounds in the complete field of view (FOV). But, it requires the use of IR transparent solvents for larger optical path length. We observed the spontaneous emulsification at water/CCl4 interfaces in the presence of a lipophilic surfactant Span 80. When the concentration of Span 80 in CCl4 is large (higher than its c.m.c.), reverse micelles are known to be formed in low dielectric solvent like CCl4. Reverse micelles at the interface tend to swell over time before detaching from the interface, which are then transported into the organic phase and contribute to the increased opaqueness. FTIR studies showed the appearance and evolution of the depth of O-H stretching band (3200-3500 cm-1) over time in the CCl4 phase. It is the signature of the transport of water into the Span 80/CCl4 solution under study. Experiments were performed for different surfactant concentrations to study the kinetics of the transport process. Figure 1 illustrates that the kinetics of the water transport process becomes faster with the increase in concentration of Span 80.

Investigating mass transfer and microstructures formation at liquid/liquid interfaces using FT-IR imaging spectroscopy

253rd National Meeting (2017)

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