U.S.-Mexico Collaborative Study of Microemulsions

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This award will support Professor Eric Kaler of the University of Washington in collaborative work with Professor Jorge Puig of the University of Guadalajara, Mexico. The investigators plan to investigate the structure and dynamics of microemulsions, using scattering techniques, transient and steady state fluorescence spectroscopy, pulsed field gradient nmr, and conductivity. Building on previously funded work, the researchers will investigate microemulsions formed with three, four, and five components, focusing on the transition from liquid-crystalline to microemulsion phases. Microemulsions are thermodynamically stable, isotopic microstructured fluid phases containing substantial amounts of oil and water, surfactant, and, frequently, alcohol. Because of their unusual physico-chemical properties and their potential for large-scale applications of commercial importance, such as detergency, enhanced oil recovery, phase-transfer catalysis, and photochemical and polymerization reactions, microemulsions have become increasingly important as a research area. Yet, although more than four decades have elapsed since their discovery, their microstructure and changes in these structures are still not well understood. Using a systematic combination of several experimental methods, some to be carried out in Washington, others in Guadalajara, the investigators hope to arrive at a more acurate understanding of microemulsion structure. Knowledge of these structures will allow better designs of microemulsion based processes and more effective formulations of appropriate microemulsions for applications.