| Mobility and in-Situ Aggregation of Charged Microparticles at Oil-Water Interfaces | ||
| Jeremy P. Vernetti, Department of Chemical Engineering, Texas Tech University, MS 3121, Lubbock, TX 79409, Sowmitri Tarimala, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX 79409, Srinivas R. Ranabothu, Texas Tech University and Lenore L. Dai, Texas Tech University, 6th & Canton, Dept. of Chemical Engineering, Lubbock, TX 79409 Particle mobility, aggregate structure, and the mechanism of aggregate growth at the two-dimensional level have been of long-standing interest. Here we use solid-stabilized emulsions as a model system to investigate the mobility of charged microparticles at polydimethylsiloxane (oil)-water interfaces using confocal laser scanning microscopy. Remarkably, the rate of diffusion of the charged colloidal-sized polystyrene particles at the oil-water interface is only moderately slower than in the bulk water phase. The ambient diffusion constant of solid particles is significantly reduced from 1.1„e10-9 cm2/s to 2.1„e10-11 cm2/s when the viscosity of the oil phase increases from 5 cSt to 350 cSt. In addition, we successfully observe the in-situ structural formation of solid particles at the oil-water interface.
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