Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Letter
  • Published:

Bicontinuous structure zones in microemulsions

Nature volume 293, pages 636–638 (1981)Cite this article

Abstract

Winsor IV systems1, or microemulsions2, are macroscopically monophasic fluid transparent compounds made up by mixing water and hydrocarbon in the presence of suitable surface active agents. Depending on composition factors, either water-in-oil (w/o), or oil-in-water (o/w), type systems can be formed. The so-called microemulsions have been intensively investigated3–8 because of their potential applications as liquid agents in technical processes (for example, enhanced oil recovery, photochemistry and biotechnology). As they belong to the class of short-range organized fluids, microemulsions also concern condensed matter physicochemists interested in elucidating their structural properties9–12. That critical phenomena can be observed in microemulsions is confirmed by reports that the electrical conductivity variations with water content increasing in certain w/o microemulsions can be accounted for on the basis of the Percolation and Effective Medium theories13–16. It has been suggested15,16that percolative conduction reflects disperse aqueous droplet clustering and interlinking processes predictive of a w/o to o/w transition (phase inversion), involving the formation of equilibrium bicontinuous structures described by Scriven17 as being “related to ordinary liquids as porous media are to homogeneous solids”, and modelled by Talmon and Prager18 as a random geometry of interspersed water and hydrocarbon domains generated by a Voronoi tesselation. This suggestion is supported by the results reported here, showing that the existence of bicontinuous structures in Winsor IV systems could be identified with the limited composition range separating the w/o and o/w microemulsion regions and over which a post-percolation anomalous conductive behaviour is observed.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Winsor, P. A. Trans. Faraday Soc. 44, 376–398 (1948).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Schulman, J. H., Stoeckenius, W. & Prince, L. M. J. phys. Chem. 63, 1677–1680 (1959).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Prince, L. M. in Emulsions and Emulsion Technology (ed. Lissant, K. J.) 125–177 (Marcel Dekker, New York, 1974); Microemulsions. Theory and Practice (Academic, New York, 1977).

    Google Scholar 

  4. Mittal, K. L. Micellization, Solubilization and Microemulsions (Plenum, New York, 1977); Solution Chemistry of Surfactants (Plenum, New York, 1979).

    Google Scholar 

  5. Shah, D. O. & Schechter, R. S. Improved Oil Recovery by Surfactant and Polymer Flooding (Academic, New York, 1977).

    Google Scholar 

  6. Shah, D. O. Interfacial Phenomena in Enhanced Oil Recovery (Plenum, New York, 1981).

    Book  Google Scholar 

  7. Friberg, S. in Microemulsions.Theory and Practice (ed. Prince, L. M.) 133–148 (Academic, New York, 1977).

    Google Scholar 

  8. Friberg, S. & Buraczewska, I. Prog. Colloid Polymer Sci. 63, 1–9 (1978).

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Bellocq, A. M. et al. J.Colloid Interface Sci. 70, 524–536 (1979); 74, 311–321 (1980).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Biais, J. et al. J.Colloid Interface Sci. 80, 136–145 (1981).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Cazabat, A. M., Langevin, D. & Pouchelon, A. J. Colloid Interface Sci. 73, 1–12 (1980); J. chem. Phys. 74, 3148–3158 (1981).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Dvolaitzky, M. et al. J. chem. Phys. 69, 3279–3288 (1978); J. phys. Chem. 84, 1532–1535 (1980).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Lagues, M., Ober, R. & Taupin, C. J. phys. Lett. Fr. 39, L487–491 (1978).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Lagues, M. J. phys. Lett. Fr. 40, L331–333 (1979); J. phys. Chem. 84, 3508 (1980).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Lagourette, B., Peyrelasse, J., Boned, C. & Clausse, M. Nature 281, 60–62 (1979).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  16. Lagourette, B. et al. in Interfacial Phenomena in Enhanced Oil Recovery (ed. Shah, D. O.) (Plenum, New York, 1981).

    Google Scholar 

  17. Scriven, L. E. Nature 263, 123–125 (1976); in Micellization, Solubilization and Microemulsions Vol. 2 (ed. Mittal K. L.) 877–893 (Plenum, New York,1977).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. Talmon, Y. & Prager, S. Nature 267, 333–335 (1977); J. chem. Phys. 2984–2991 (1978).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. Heil, J. thesis, Univ. Pau (1981).

  20. Clausse, M., Heil, J., Peyrelasse, J. & Boned, C. J. Colloid Interface Sci. (submitted).

  21. Boned, C. et al. J. phys. Chem. 84, 1520–1525 (1980).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  22. Shah, D. O., Tamjeedi, A., Falco, J. W. & Walker, R. D. AIChEJ. 18, 1116–1120 (1972).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  23. Kirkpatrick, S. Phys. Rev. Lett. 27, 1722–1725 (1971); Rev. Mod. Phys. 45, 574–588 (1973).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  24. Cohen, M. H. & Jortner, J. Phys. Rev. Lett. 30, 696–698 (1973).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  25. Webman, I., Jortner, J. & Cohen, M. H. Phys. Rev. B11, 2885–2892 (1975).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  26. Bruggeman, D. A. G. Ann. Phys. 24, 636–689 (1935).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  27. Bottcher, C. J. F. Rec. Trav. Chim. 64, 47–51 (1945).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  28. Landauer, R. J. appl. Phys. 27, 779–784 (1952).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  29. Bennett, K. E. et al. Paper presented at the Industrial Sub-Committee of the Faraday Division of the Chemical Society Meeting on Microemulsions, Cambridge (The Royal Society of Chemistry, in the press).

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratoire de Thermodynamique, Université de Pau et des Pays de l'Adour, Institut Universitaire de Recherche Scientifique, Avenue Philippon, F-64000, Pau, France

    M. Clausse, J. Peyrelasse, J. Heil, C. Boned & B. Lagourette

Authors
  1. M. Clausse
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. J. Peyrelasse
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. J. Heil
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. C. Boned
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. B. Lagourette
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Clausse, M., Peyrelasse, J., Heil, J. et al. Bicontinuous structure zones in microemulsions. Nature 293, 636–638 (1981). https://doi.org/10.1038/293636a0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/293636a0

This article is cited by

Comments

By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing