Investigation of the segregative phase separation induced by addition of polystyrene to AOT oil-continuous microemulsions

Iseult Lynch, Sophie Cornen, Lennart Piculell

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

23 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The effect of different molecular weight polystyrenes (PS) on the phase behavior of sodium 1,4-bis(2-ethylhexyl) sulfosuccinate (AOT)/water/cyclohexane oil-continuous microemulsions was investigated. The surfactant-covered water droplets were treated as a pseudocomponent in the mixture, and ternary polymer/droplet/oil phase diagrams were established as a function of microemulsion droplet radius (2.7 or 3.8 nm), PS molecular weight (18 700, 45 730, and 700 000), and temperature. The different polymer radii of gyration (Rg) and droplet radii (Rd) resulted in a broad range of size ratios (Rg/Rd = q) being accessible:  0.9 ≤ q ≤ 8.9. The aims of this work were to study polymer−particle segregation in this well-defined system, where both polymer size, particle size, and hence size ratio could be controlled and where polymer−solvent interactions could be varied across the θ temperature, and to compare the fluid−fluid binodal phase diagrams with those predicted theoretically. It turns out that the polystyrene chains in AOT oil-continuous microemulsions behave almost as ideal chains, over all q values and temperatures investigated.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)5443-5452
Number of pages10
JournalThe Journal of Physical Chemistry Part B: Condensed Matter, Materials, Surfaces, Interfaces & Biophysical
Volume108
Issue number17
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Apr 2004

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Investigation of the segregative phase separation induced by addition of polystyrene to AOT oil-continuous microemulsions'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this