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Title: Oil droplet interaction with a quartz surface in solutions of cationic surfactants

Journal Article · · Colloid Journal of the Russian Academy of Sciences
OSTI ID:35547

Contact angles of oil droplets on a quartz surface, emulsion-film thicknesses between the surfaces of quartz and oil, and their surface charges were measured over a wide range of the cationic CTAB concentrations in the background electrolyte solution (10{sup {minus}4} M KCl). Oil droplet motion in a CTAB solution and the processes of mutual displacement were studied in thin capillaries. Tetradecane and silicone oil were used as the model systems. The equilibrium contact angles calculated from the disjoining pressure isotherms closely approximated their experimental counterparts. The calculations were performed with due regard for molecular, electrostatic, and hydrophobic attraction forces. The electrostatic and hydrophobic forces were shown to make the greatest contribution to droplet adhesion. As the CTAB concentration increased to 10{sup {minus}3} M, adhesion decreased sharply because of the hydrophilization of the oil and quartz surfaces and their high positive charge. The data obtained point to the possibility of controlling droplet adhesion by cationic surfactants.

OSTI ID:
35547
Journal Information:
Colloid Journal of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Vol. 56, Issue 1; Other Information: PBD: Jan-Feb 1994; TN: Translated from Kolloidnyi Zhurnal; 56: No. 1, 49-55(1994)
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English