Formation and characteristion of surfactantless oil-in-water and water-in-oil emulsions

A liquid–liquid interface in the form of a surfactantless oil-in-water or water-in-oil emulsion has been created and characterised. The emulsions, composed of 1,2-dichloroethane (DCE) and D2O were created using a condensation method and this technique has been optimised to give the conditions needed to produce reproducible emulsions with comparable drop volumes and number densities. These have been measured using optical microscopy and light scattering techniques to characterise the emulsions and to investigate how the drop volume, and hence the solubilities of the two phases, are dependent on temperature. The destabilisation of the emulsion, due to the sedimentation of DCE (ρ = 1.235 g cm−3) or creaming of D2O (ρ = 1.105 g cm−3), and the coalescence of the drops, has also been measured qualitatively using turbidity measurements.