MACROEMULSION STABILITY WITHIN THE WINSOR-III REGION - THEORY VERSUS EXPERIMENT

The stability of macroemulsions formed upon mixing the phases of the W insor III equilibrium was studied. The resulting macroemulsions contai ned the upper and lower phases, emulsified in each other; the middle p hase did not coemulsify with them and separated within the first hour after emulsification. Within ca. 0.2 degrees C on the both sides of th e balanced point, the macroemulsions were very unstable. Within the fo llowing 0.15 degrees C, a spectacular increase in stability by 3 order s of magnitude occurred on either side of the phase inversion temperat ure. The same pattern of macroemulsion stability was reproduced by var ying salinity at constant temperature. The experimental data are in go od agreement with a model, relating the rate of coalescence to the fre e energy penalty of hole nucleation in the emulsion films.(1)