Rheological Properties of Particle-Stabilized Emulsions

We have studied the rheological properties of fumed silica particle-stabilized emulsions. Two particles of different polarity were considered, the first more hydrophilic “Aerosil R7200,” the second more hydrophobic “Aerosil R972.” These particles flocculate and probably form a network at the investigated concentration. The flow curves of emulsions stabilized by a single type of particles exhibit yield stress, shear-thinning behavior and thixotropy. Moreover they display rheological features typical of gels. These features are attributed to strengthening of the particle network by droplets. Moreover the rheological properties of w/o emulsions stabilized by hydrophobic are similar to the ones of o/w emulsions stabilized by hydrophilic particles. The rheological properties of o/w emulsions stabilized by mixtures of hydrophilic and hydrophobic particles have then been studied by keeping the total particle concentration constant and varying the mass ratio between particles. The results show that when the hydrophobic particle concentration increases, the viscosity and stability of emulsions decrease establishing evidence that the network is weakened due to preferential orientation of hydrophobic particles towards the oil phase.     

Oil Base Mud. Part I: Synthesis of Some Local Surfactants Used as Primary Emulsifiers for Oil Base Mud and Evaluation of Their Rheology Properties

Six oil soluble nonionic surfactants with different HLBs have been prepared. Their HLBs situate between 3.9 and 6.7. Transesterification was carried out for glycerol and triethanol amine with oleic acid at different moles to obtain six emusilifiers. They named glycerol momooleate (I), glycerol diooleate (II), glycerol trioleate (III), triethanol amine mono-, di- and tri-oleate (IV), (V,) and (VI). The chemical structure was confirmed using; the elemental analysis, FTIR and ¹HNMR. They were evaluated as a primary emulsifiers (PE) for thdrilling fluids (oil base mud) comparing with a currently used primary emulsifier (Fc). The water in oil base mud (w/o emulsions) was prepared. The concentration of emulsifiers and their HLB exhibited interesting rheology properties including shear-thinning behavior, yield value, viscoelastic effects, thixtropy, gel strength, and filtration loss. The rheology properties of such emulsions strongly depended on the average size distribution of the dispersed droplets that could be varied both with the bulk concentration and HLB value of the emulsifiers. The interfacial and surface properties of these emulsifiers suggest that the droplet size of the dispersed phase and bulk concentration are strongly related to the HLB value of emulsifiers. The w/o emulsion (mud formulation) stability is sensitive to the droplet size of the dispersed phase and HLB value of the used emulsifier. The results were discussed on the light the chemical structure of the primary emulsifiers and the emulsion ingredients.     

Determination of the permittivity of nematic liquid crystals in the microwave region

Two 3 mm thick microscope glass plates, having one face plus their two long edges coated by a thick metallic film, are spaced 75 μm apart by mylar spacers. Because of the metallic coatings on the inner faces the structure acts as a single metallic slit. The space between the two coated plates is filled with aligned nematic liquid crystal (E7, Merck/BDH) and the cell is inserted in an absorber aperture. This single metallic slit geometry supports resonant modes when microwaves are incident with their polarization (E-field) perpendicular to the slit. The structure gives a set of Fabry-Perot-like resonant transmission frequencies. These frequencies move when a voltage is applied between the two plates, the liquid crystal being first aligned homogeneously, then realigning homeotropically with the applied field. By minotoring these changes a fast and easy to use procedure for determining the permittivity and its anisotropy for nematic liquid crystals in the microwave region has been developed. The parameters determined for E7 are ε_e = 3.17 (n_e = 1.78 ± 0.01) and ε_o = 2.72 (n_o = 1.65 ± 0.01), (Δn ≈ 0.13) in the 40.0–60.0 GHz region.     

Structure and dynamics of biological liquid crystals

A review of thermodynamic and flow liquid crystal models is presented and applied to a wide range of biological liquid crystals (BLCs), including helicoidal plywoods, biopolymer solutions and in vivo liquid crystals. The key characteristics of liquid crystals (self-assembly, packing, defects, functionalities, processability) are discussed in relation to biological materials and the strong correspondence between different synthetic and biological materials is discussed. Viscoelastic models for nematic and chiral nematics are reviewed and discussed in terms of key parameters that facilitate understanding and quantitative information from experimental measurements. The range and consistency of the predictions demonstrates that the use of mesoscopic liquid crystal models is an efficient tool to develop the science and biomimetic applications of mesogenic biological materials.     

Surfactant Hydrogels for the Dispersion of Carbon‐Nanotube‐Based Catalysts

Novel hydrogel phases based on positively charged and zwitterionic surfactants, namely, N‐[p‐(n‐dodecyloxybenzyl)]‐N,N,N‐trimethylammonium bromide (pDOTABr) and p‐dodecyloxybenzyldimethylamine oxide (pDOAO), which combine pristine carbon nanotubes (CNTs), were obtained, thus leading to stable dispersions and enhanced cross‐linked networks. The composite hydrogel featuring a well‐defined nanostructured morphology and an overall positively charged surface was shown to efficiently immobilise a polyanionic and redox‐active tetraruthenium‐substituted polyoxometalate (Ru₄POM) by complementary charge interactions. The resulting hybrid gel has been characterised by electron microscopy techniques, whereas the electrostatic‐directed assembly has been monitored by means of fluorescence spectroscopy and ζ‐potential tests. This protocol offers a straightforward supramolecular strategy for the design of novel aqueous‐based electrocatalytic soft materials, thereby improving the processability of CNTs while tuning their interfacial decoration with multiple catalytic domains. Electrochemical evidence confirms that the activity of the catalyst is preserved within the gel media.     

Rheological Study of Interactions between Anionic Guar and Oppositely Charged Surfactant

We have studied the interactions between anionic carboxymethyl guar (CMG) and oppositely charged surfactant: dodecyltrimethylammonium bromide (DTAB), tetradecyltrimethylammonium bromide (TTAB), cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB), and gemini surfactants (16-4-16), using rheological measurements. In the present study, two competing forces, electrostatic interaction and hydrophobic interaction, have been identified as important factors. Various types of structure formed on the anionic CMG chains are qualitatively discussed in comparison. For example, C₁₂TAB and gemini surfactant tend to form polymer-bound aggregates, whereas the C₁₆TAB tend to form the polymer-associated architecture. Furthermore, possible mechanisms based on the experimental results to elucidate these interesting phenomena have been proposed and discussed.     

Metachronal propulsion of non-Newtonian viscoelastic mucus in an axisymmetric tube with ciliated walls

Cilia-induced flow of viscoelastic mucus through an idealized two-dimensional model of the human trachea is presented.The cilia motion is simulated by a metachronal wave pattern which enables the mobilization of highly viscous mucus even at nonzero Reynolds numbers.The viscoelastic mucus is analyzed with the upper convected Maxwell viscoelastic formulation which features a relaxation time and accurately captures normal stress generation in shear flows.The governing equations are transformed from fixed to wave(laboratory)frame with appropriate variables and resulting differential equations are perturbed about wave number.The trachea is treated as an axisymmetric ciliated tube.Radial and axial distributions in axial velocity are calculated via the regular perturbation method and pressure rise is computed with numerical integration using symbolic software MATHEMATICA^‘TM’.The influence of selected parameters which is cilia length,and Maxwell viscoelastic material parameter i.e.relaxation time for prescribed values of wave number are visualized graphically.Pressure rise is observed to increase considerably with elevation in both cilia length and relaxation time whereas the axial velocity is markedly decelerated.The simulations provide some insight into viscous-dominated cilia propulsion of rheological mucus and also serve as a benchmark for more advanced modeling.     

Biopolymer Synthesized by Strains of Xanthomonas sp Isolate from Brazil Using Biodiesel-Waste

The future supplies and usage of glycerol are expected to increase as biodiesel plants increase production, and the output will greatly outpace demand. Biodiesel production has already had a significant impact on the price of refined glycerol. A major concern of glycerol producers is the reduced price of glycerol resulting from the increased production of biodiesel. Some alternative uses for this glycerol that have been investigated are substrates for fermentation process or the production of biosurfactants, fatty acids, biopolymers, and others products. This work had as objective to evaluate two strains of Xanthomonas sp isolate from Brazil for xanthan gum in orbital agitator, analizing the apparent viscosity of aqueous solutions and selecting viscosity. The experiments of xanthan gum production were realized in orbital agitator with 120 rpm agitation, for cells production, and 180rpm, for biopolymer production, under a 28 °C temperature. The rheology of the fermentation broth was analyzed by apparent viscosity and the polymer was recovered with ethanol (1:3, v/v). After its recovery, the productivity evaluation was performed. The productivity were 0.157 and 0.363 gL⁻¹ for C1 and 0.186 and 0.363 gL⁻¹ for C9 to media glycerol or glycerol and sucrose, respectively. The viscosity analysis was performed for aqueous solutions 3%, at 25 °C, the best apparent viscosity was obtained using gum synthesized with glycerol and sucrose (50:50) at 25 °C, 143 mPa.s⁻¹ from Xanthomonas sp C1.     

表面波在表面活性剂流变学研究中的应用

论述了表面波的原理及其发展，文中进一步讨论了毛细波和纵向波的特点，较为详细地介绍了纵向波的实验方法和装置以及在表面活性剂流学变性质研究中的应用。     

DSC and Rheometry Investigations of Crude Oils

Thermal characteristics and rheological behaviour of eight crude oils covered a wide range of fluid composition and properties were studied by differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) and viscometry. Wax appearance temperatures (WAT) of crude oils were determined by DSC and viscometry. Good agreement is obtained between the results. The dynamic viscosity in the Newtonian temperature range of the crude oils (above 30°C) generally obeyed a simple first-order Arrhenius type of temperature dependence. Activation energies of flow in the non-Newtonian range are not uniquely defined. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.