High- and low-molecular-weight lignosulfonates and Kraft lignins as oil/water-emulsion stabilizers studied by means of electrical conductivity

Electrical conductivity measurements were used to study the creaming rates in oil/water emulsions stabilized with five lignosulfonates and one Kraft lignin. The creaming process resulted in a narrow dispersion band separating the water-rich and the oil-rich phases. An electrode was designed to follow this zone in the emulsion as a function of time. This makes it possible to calculate the amount of water separated from the emulsion directly from the creaming profiles. The stability concerning creaming was also evaluated with data obtained from visual inspection. Equivalent creaming profiles indicate that the electrode design used is suitable for stability measurements in the systems examined. Droplet interaction in diluted emulsions was studied with video-enhanced microscopy. Received: 10 September 1998 Accepted in revised form: 18 December 1998     

Emulsification properties of chitosan

 The chitosans use as an emulsifier in food emulsions was explored. The properties of chitosan (air/solution surface activity, electrical conductivity, HLB) were studied. The obtained emulsions were stable multiple w/o/w emulsions, whose characteristics were explained on the basis of the emulsifier structure and solution properties. The reaction with an anionic surfactant, sodium dodecylsulfate, was also studied, giving a water-insoluble complex at a given surfactant/chitosan ratio. Received: 24 March 1998 Accepted: 13 July 1998     

Highly hydrophobically modified polyelectrolytes stabilizing macroemulsions: relationship between copolymer structure and emulsion type

The types of emulsions, oil (n-dodecane) in water (O/W) or water in oil (W/O), stabilized with highly hydrophobically grafted linear poly(sodium acrylate)s, were investigated as a function of polymer chemical architecture. Consequently, a large number of macroemulsifiers, covering a wide range of hydrophobicity, were synthesized by changing the degree of grafting (τ), length (n) and type (single- versus twin-tailed) of the hydrophobic moiety. Monovalent salt (NaNO₃) concentration was used as a probe to adjust and hence to estimate the hydrophile-lipophile balance (HLB) of each copolymer. τ, n, type of graft and electrolyte concentration were identified as field parameters to control emulsion type. In general, decreasing either τ or n was found to favor the formation of direct emulsions. Inverse dispersions were preferentially formed with twin-tailed rather than single-tailed copolymers. Moreover, the types of emulsions stabilized with well-balanced polyelectrolytes can be flipped from O/W to W/O with increasing salt concentration. Finally, following the Davies concept, a HLB scale for polymers was created from a comparison with surfactants of nearly identical chemical structure. Received: 15 June 1998 Accepted: 12 August 1998     

Analytical control of organic additives in electrolytic baths by UV spectroscopy in combination with multivariate analysis

A method for the simultaneous determination of organic additives in Zn(II) and Ni(II) electrolytic baths is proposed. Absorbance and first-derivative spectra were subjected to direct and inverse multiple linear regression (CLS and ILS, respectively) in order to choose the optimum alternative. The use of a factor design to prepare the samples enables the identification of interactions between analytes and their correction by ILS. The results provided by first-derivative spectra were slightly better than those obtained with absorbance spectra (prediction errors were always less than 2% with the former). The ILS procedure was applied to three industrial baths used to a different extent, with highly satisfactory results. Received: 15 June 1998 / Revised: 7 September 1998 / Accepted: 15 September 1998     

Improved formulation of W/O/W multiple emulsion for insulin encapsulation. Influence of the chemical structure of insulin

W/O/W multiple emulsions are systems of potential interest in the oral administration of insulin. Although it has been shown that a single oral administration of insulin-loaded W/O/W multiple emulsion to diabetic rats led to the significant decrease of blood glucose levels (Silva Cunha et al., 1998, Int J Pharm 169:33), repeated administrations displayed unpleasant side effects such as diarrhoea and steatosis. These unwanted effects were attributed to the high oil concentration used for their preparation. In the present study, attention was focused on the reduction of oil concentration in the formulation of these systems and on the encapsulation of two different insulins. The physical properties and stability of the multiple emulsions over long periods of time were assessed by conductivity measurements, and granulometric and microscopic analyses. The encapsulation in the inner aqueous phase of two insulins, Umulin and Humalog, differing only by the transposition of one amino acid, had non-negligible effects on the formation and stability of W/O/W multiple emulsions. Both insulins were shown to improve the formation of the multiple emulsions. Circular dichroism studies and surface tension measurements evidenced the contribution of insulin conformation and surface properties in multiple emulsion formation and stability.     

Influence of the non-ionic surfactant PEG-660-12-hydroxy stearate on the surface properties of phospholipid monolayers and their effect on lipid emulsion stability

The effect of the interaction between phospholipid monolayers and PEG-660-12-hydroxy stearate as a non-ionic surfactant on lipid emulsion stability in dynamic and static conditions was studied. The presence of PEG-660-12-hydroxy stearate molecules with phospholipid monolayers (static state) leads to a remarkable increase in the surface pressure (from 5 to 30 mN/m in the initial molecular area), whereas in the dynamic state, when the two emulsifiers are separated and each dissolved in one phase of the two emulsion phases, a sudden decrease in the surface pressures is observed. This indicates that PEG-660-12-hydroxy stearate molecules are intercalated between the phospholipid monolayers forming a molecular mixed film. At the same time, a part of the phospholipid monolayers interacts with the surfactant monomers to form a soluble or partially soluble association complex. This interpretation was also supported by interfacial tension measurements, where the interfacial tension in the dynamic state was lower than that in the static one. This indicates that in static conditions the phospholipids partially interact with PEG-660-12-hydroxy stearate resulting in a non-active association complex. Subsequently there is insufficient utilization of the available surfactants during the emulsification process. In contrast, in dynamic conditions both emulsifiers are available at the free surface from the beginning. This behaviour was substantiated by investigating the stability of emulsions which were prepared either by the static condition or the dynamic one during the autoclaving process. Received: 25 May 1998 Accepted in revised form: 18 September 1998     

Stabilization of emulsions by heterocoagulation of clay minerals and layered double hydroxides

 Paraffin/water emulsions were stabilized by colloidal particles without surface active agents. Mixtures of two types of particles with opposite signs of charge were used: a layered double hydroxide (the hydroxide layers carry positive charges) and the clay mineral montmorillonite (the silicate layers carry negative charges). The emulsions were very stable and did not separate a coherent oil phase. The stability of the emulsion (no oil coalescence after centrifugation) was independent of the mixing ratio of both the compounds when the total solid content was >0.5%. Solid contents up to 2.0% were optimal. In contrast to stability, flow behavior of the emulsion was dependent on the mass fraction χ of the hydroxide. The maxima of viscosity and yield value were observed at χ≈0.2–0.3; the emulsion showed pronounced antithixotropic behavior. Weak thixotropic properties, smaller viscosities and yield values were observed at χ≤0.2 and ≥0.5. In the absence of the clay mineral, the double hydroxide particles stabilize by forming envelopes around the oil droplets. Addition of bentonites creates a three-dimensional network of particles with high elasticity which impedes coalescence of the oil droplets. Received: 9 March 1998 Accepted: 6 April 1998     

Simultaneous determination of propanol and butanol by a fluorometric enzymatic method based on the intrinsic fluorescence of the enzyme

The application of the intrinsic fluorescence of alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) for the simultaneous determination of propanol and butanol was investigated by using only one kinetic run. An absolute calibration method (based on a mathematical model derived from the enzymatic reaction) and a multivariate calibration method (partial least squares regression, PLSR) were tested for this purpose. Both methods were applied to synthetic samples of both alcohols with good results. Received: 17 September 1998 / Revised: 21 December 1998 / Accepted: 28 December 1998     

Soft X-ray spectromicroscopy on solid-stabilized emulsions

Oil–water emulsions stabilized by solids have been imaged with sub-100 nm spatial resolution and analyzed spectroscopically using a scanning transmission X-ray microscope. The emulsions are stabilized by particle heterocoagulate cages surrounding the oil droplets. These cages form due to the interaction of negatively charged clay mineral particles (sodium montmorillonite, Wyoming) and positively charged particles of calcium/aluminum layered double hydroxide (LDH). The emulsions were studied at atmospheric pressure, without any pretreatment using carbon K and calcium L X-ray absorption edges. Oil- and calcium-rich LDH were separately mapped, and the clay mineral dispersions were also imaged. Applying X-ray absorption-edge contrast, oil could be distinguished from water in the emulsion near the carbon K absorption edge (284 eV, 4.4 nm). Spectromicroscopy near the calcium L absorption edge (346 eV, 3.6 nm) allowed the structural details of heterocoagulate formation to be revealed. Received: 11 December 1998 Accepted in revised form: 10 January 1999     

A robotics-potentiometric method for the determination of mercaptan sulfur in fuels

A fully automated robotics method for the determination of mercaptan sulfur in several types of fuels is proposed. It is based on the standard method involving removal of sulfide with cadmium sulfate and subsequent determination. The robotics station develops both the preliminary operations and the determination. The method affords a precision, expressed as relative standard deviation, of 1.63%. The good agreement between the results obtained by the proposed and by conventional methods for the target analyte confirms its excellent performance and usefulness. Received: 1 July 1998 / Revised: 9 September 1998 / Accepted: 13 September 1998