(219g) Watching the Formation of “Nanoemulsions” From Microemulsions – Attempts Using Cryo-TEM Direct Imaging
AIChE Annual Meeting
2010
2010 Annual Meeting
Engineering Sciences and Fundamentals
Fundamentals of Interfacial Phenomena I
Tuesday, November 9, 2010 - 10:30am to 10:50am
?Nanoemulsions? are dilute, monodisperse, micelles swollen with very insoluble oils; under certain circumstances, they can be made conveniently by the fast dilution of microemulsions. However, it is not systematically understood how the success of synthesis and the resultant size and polydispersity is affected by the starting microemulsion structure or composition, the presence of liquid crystals or the addition cosurfactants. In an attempt to resolve some of the issues raised by conductivity and scattering experiments reported in the literature, we are examining model processes with direct imaging cryo-electron microscopy. We are quenching intermediates in the formation process to try to understand at the molecular level what characterizes successful synthesis of nanoemulsions.