SEDIMENTATION FIELD-FLOW FRACTIONATION STUDIES OF OSTWALD RIPENING INFLUOROCARBON EMULSIONS CONTAINING 2 DISPERSE PHASE COMPONENTS

Diffusional mass transfer (Ostwald ripening) between emulsion droplets has been studied. By using sedimentation field-flow fractionation (Sd FFF) coupled with gas chromatography, the disperse phase composition c an be obtained for monosized droplet fractions. Two liquids, A and B, were mixed together and then emulsified. The mass transfer between dro plets of different size was driven by differences in capillary pressur e, such that the small particles were enriched in the less soluble B c omponent. At low concentrations of B, a bimodal size distribution emer ged, with the small particle size fraction strongly enriched in B. The re is a strong agreement between the experimental data and current the ories for two-component disperse phase emulsions as developed by Kabal nov et al.