Investigation of the mobility of amphiphilic polymer--AOT reverse microemulsion systems using electron spin resonance.

Amphiphilic polymers can be used as tools to manipulate the behavior of reverse microemulsions. EPR spectroscopy employing the spin probe 5-doxyl stearic acid was used to study the adsorption of a comb type polymer (polymaleic anhydride octyl vinyl ether) and a diblock polymer (polybutadiene-ethylene oxide) onto reverse microemulsion droplets formed from Aerosol-OT/heptane/water. The findings indicate that the comb type polymer was adsorbed by the reverse microemulsion drops at low polymer concentrations causing a structural change of the micelle.

Acoustic Spectroscopy for Characterizing Heptane/H(2)O/AOT Reverse Microemulsions.

Acoustic spectroscopy was used to monitor the droplet size distribution in a classic three component system of heptane, water, and aerosol-OT (AOT). The size of the reverse microemulsion drops was varied by changing the molar ratio of water to AOT surfactant. The acoustic results for this transparent microemulsion were found to be in close agreement with literature results obtained with small angle neutron scattering and small angle X-ray scattering.