FORMATION OF O/W EMULSIONS BY SURFACTANT PHASE EMULSIFICATION AND THE SOLUTION BEHAVIOR OF NONIONIC SURFACTANT SYSTEM IN THE EMULSIFICATION PROCESS

Abstract

Surfactant-Phase Emulsification is a very useful method to produce oil-in-water emulsions having fine and uniform droplets. The mechanism of this emulsification method and the effect of hydrophile-lipophile balance (HLB) of the surfactants on the process of this emuisification were investigated by using phase diagrams of nonionic surfactant/hexadecane/water/1,3-butanediol four component systems.

It was shown that the process of this emulsification begins with the formation of isotropic surfactant solution, followed by formation of oil-in-surfactant clear gel emulsion, and finally by formation of oil-in-water emulsion. By using this emulsification technique, fine oil-in-water emulsions were formed without a need for adjusting of HLB.