labourt@che.udel.edu

Ph.D. Chemical Engineering, 2005                                                        University of Delaware Diplôme d'Ingénieur, 2001                                                                    CPE, Lyon

Phase behavior and microstructure of alkyl polyglucoside microemulsions

There is currently substantial interest in developing chemicals made from renewable materials. An excellent example is alkyl polyglucosides, which are nonionic, sugar-based surfactants. They are highly biodegradable and display excellent surface-active properties, such as wetability, foam production, and cleaning ability. However, little is known about the behavior of alkyl polyglucosides (C_mG_n) with other surfactants or with oils, so this project will explore the properties of their mixtures with a nonionic surfactant, specifically with n-alkyl polyglycol ether (C_iE_j) surfactants, and then with oils to form microemulsions. Microemulsions are thermodynamically stable systems consisting of surfactant, oil and water.

First we will study the phase behavior and the microstructure of alkyl polyglucosides with C_iE_j surfactants in aqueous solutions. To that system will be added a biologically ‘friendly’ oil, such as limolene. The microemulsions formed by the C_iE_j-C_mG_n/oil/water systems will be studied in detail, and finally polymer will be added to control rheology.