Abstract
This paper presents a spectroscopic study of emulsions generated with a laser-assisted device. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), Raman and UV–Vis–NIR reflectance spectra of emulsions, recorded before and after exposure to laser radiation were used to characterize the effect of laser irradiation. The paper also presents a comparison between the calculated IR spectra and the experimental FTIR spectra of an emulsion’s components. FTIR measurements allowed the identification of absorption bands specific to each of the emulsions’ components. Moreover, it enabled the observation of destabilization of the emulsion in real-time. Raman spectroscopy allowed the observation of the modifications at a molecular level, by identifying the vibrations of the representative functional groups and the polymerization of sodium tetradecyl sulfate (STS) molecules by analyzing the evolution of the carbonyl band. UV–Vis–NIR reflectance spectra of emulsions before and after exposure to laser radiation showed that the physical characteristics of the emulsions changed during irradiation—the dimensions of the droplets decreased, leading to an emulsion with a better time stability. These results proved that the employed spectroscopy techniques were powerful tools in emulsion analysis.
Highlights
Emulsions are studied extensively due to their wide range of applications—targeted drug delivery, food and beverage, as well as cosmetics production, fuel and enhanced oil recovery, decontamination of surfaces, etc. [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8]
We present the spectroscopic characterization of emulsions generated with a laser-assisted device and the comparison of UV–Vis reflectance, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR)–attenuated total reflection (ATR), and Raman spectra of the unirradiated and irradiated emulsions
Analyses of emulsions allow the identification of absorption bands specific to each of the immiscible components, further allowing a real-time evaluation of the emulsion’s destabilization
Summary
Emulsions are studied extensively due to their wide range of applications—targeted drug delivery, food and beverage, as well as cosmetics production, fuel and enhanced oil recovery, decontamination of surfaces, etc. [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8]. Emulsions are studied extensively due to their wide range of applications—targeted drug delivery, food and beverage, as well as cosmetics production, fuel and enhanced oil recovery, decontamination of surfaces, etc. [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8] For many of these applications, micro- and nano-emulsions present a greater interest than macro-emulsions. Emulsions with micro- and nano-size droplets are preferred in the medical and pharmaceutical fields, one of their advantages being longer shelf lives [9]
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