Easing formulation of emulsions by bottom focused back scattering - poster at SIS2008

Poster at 17th International Symposium on Surfactants in Solution on August 17-22, 2008 Berlin

Easing formulation of emulsions by bottom focused back scattering

Selection of efficient emulsifiers, their optimum concentration and processing conditions is a demanding and time consuming process. In almost all cases a high creaming stability is required. Evaluation of creaming stability can be eased when focusing on the changes in droplet concentration right at the bottom part of the emulsion samples.
A new multisample approach using light backscattering signals is presented. It allows for fast measurement of stability and/or demixing phenomena and separation kinetics of up to 8 different samples simultaneously, by monitoring the concentration change in a very small region of interest at the bottom of sample cell.
The method was applied to trace the optimum emulsifier concentrations for silicone oil emulsions stabilized by nonionic or anionic surfactant. Further the influence of processing time and intensity was evaluated for a high speed rotor stator mixer.