Phase behavior of water/oil/nonionic surfactants with normal distribution of the poly(ethylene oxide) chain length

The phase behavior of systems consisting of water/n-hexane/polyethoxylated nonionic surfactants with a normal distribution of ethylene oxide (EO) chain length has been investigated. The surfactants used were octylphenol ethoxylated with eight EO units and nonylphenol ethoxylated with seven and ten EO units. The oil/water weight ratio was keep constant at 1, whereas the amount of surfactant and the temperature were variables. The pseudobinary phase diagrams were used to find out the triphasic bodies on the temperature scale, the tricritical points and the effect of electrolyte on them. The presence of electrolyte and the increase in surfactant hydrophobicity promote the phase inversion.[PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]