Abstract
AbstractThe effects of various oils and alcohols on the brine solubilization and fluorescence behavior of oil‐external microemulsions were investigated. At a critical electrolyte concentration, referred to as optimal salinity, the brine solubilization capacity of microemulsions containing petroleum sulfonate is maximum for C6–C10 oils and C4–C7 alcohols. Moreover, at this salinity, the fluorescence intensity was found to be maximal. As the chain length of oil is increased, the optimal salinity increased for all the alcohols studied. However, the increase in optimal salinity was much greater for water‐soluble alcohols than for pentanol, hexanol or heptanol. The brine solubilization limit decreased as the oil chain length increased for microemulsions containing n‐butanol and iso‐butanol. The solubilization behavior is explained in terms of solubility of alcohols in various phases of microemulsions and the ability of the aqueous phase to solubilize surfactant molecules from the interface. The fluorescence behavior is explained by higher surface charge density around the water droplet near optimal salinity. A simple correlation is given between the solubilization and fluorescence behavior of microemulsions that is independent of type and chain length of the alcohols or hydrocarbons.
Published Version
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