Investigation of the interfacial properties of water-in-diluted-bitumen emulsions using micropipette techniques

Functional metal-phenolic cortical cytoskeleton for artificial cells

Cortex-like cytoskeleton, a thin layer of cross-linked cytoplasmic proteins underlying the cell membrane, plays an essential role in modulating membrane behavior and cell surface properties. However, bottom-up construction of functional cortex-like cytoskeleton in artificial cells remains a challenge. Here, we present metal-phenolic networks as artificial cortical cytoskeletons in liposome-based artificial cells. The metal-phenolic cytoskeleton-reinforced artificial cells exhibit long-term stability, enhanced resistance to a variety of harsh environments, tunable permeability, and well-controlled morphologies. We anticipate that our stable artificial cell models will stride forward to practical applications of liposome-based microsystem.

Interaction Between the Cyclopentane Hydrate Particle and Water Droplet in Hydrocarbon Oil

The presence of immiscible water drops in bulk hydrocarbon is likely to bridge hydrate particles to cause hydrate agglomeration, leading to potential pipeline blockage. This can become a major challenge for flow assurance in offshore petroleum transportation. To avoid hydrate aggregation, the attachment between hydrate and water drops should be avoided. In this study, we used our home-designed integrated thin film drainage apparatus to investigate the interactions between a hydrate particle and a water drop inside model oil (i.e., mixture of cyclopentane and toluene with a volumetric ratio of 1:1). Our experiments showed that asphaltenes, a natural component in crude oil, were an effective inhibitor for the attachment between water drops and hydrate particles. Without asphaltenes in the system, the water drop adhered to the hydrate particle immediately after the two surfaces contacted. By adding 0.03 g/L asphaltenes into the oil phase, the attachment was delayed by 0.7 s when the applied preload force was set to around 0.05 mN. By increasing the asphaltenes addition to 0.05 g/L, the attachment between the hydrate and water drop was prevented even when the contact time lasted up to 25 s. This phenomenon could be explained by the adsorption of an asphaltenes layer along the interface between the aqueous drop and hydrocarbon. Measurements of the dynamic interfacial tension and crumping ratio confirmed the presence of the adsorption layer. The addition of 0.6 mol/L NaCl or 0.3 mol/L CaCl₂ in the aqueous drop could further enhance the strength of the adsorption layer. Results of this research provide understanding of the benefits of asphaltenes and salt in preventing hydrate agglomeration.

Ablation of water drops suspended in asphaltene/heptol solutions due to spontaneous emulsification

Complex molecules from crude oil, such as asphaltenes, can adsorb onto oil/water interfaces. This creates a viscoelastic network that may cause difficulties in oil recovery and oil spills. In addition to stabilization of oil/water emulsions, they may also cause the spontaneous formation of micron-sized droplets. Here, we investigate spontaneous emulsification in the presence of asphaltenes, probing parameters that may affect this phenomenon by observing isolated drops of water immersed in asphaltene/hydrocarbon solutions within a co-flow microfluidic device. The results indicate that the initial internal pressure of the drop strongly influences the rate at which the drop will shrink due to spontaneous emulsification. In addition, the viscoelastic skin formation by the asphaltenes inhibits increases in this pressure that normally accompanies a decrease in drop radius. Understanding this spontaneous emulsification has implications not only for the oil industry, but also to the cosmetics, foods, medical, and pharmaceutical industries.

Interfacial Rheology and Heterogeneity of Aging Asphaltene Layers at the Water-Oil Interface

Surface-active asphaltene molecules are naturally found in crude oil, causing serious problems in the petroleum industry by stabilizing emulsion drops, thus hindering the separation of water and oil. Asphaltenes can adsorb at water-oil interfaces to form viscoelastic interfacial films that retard or prevent coalescence. Here, we measure the evolving interfacial shear rheology of water-oil interfaces as asphaltenes adsorb. Generally, interfaces stiffen with time, and the response crosses over from viscous-dominated to elastic-dominated. However, significant variations in the stiffness evolution are observed in putatively identical experiments. Direct visualization of the interfacial strain field reveals significant heterogeneities within each evolving film, which appear to be an inherent feature of the asphaltene interfaces. Our results reveal the adsorption process and aged interfacial structure to be more complex than that previously described. The complexities likely impact the coalescence of asphaltene-stabilized droplets, and suggest new challenges in destabilizing crude oil emulsions.

DNA cytoskeleton for stabilizing artificial cells

Cell-sized liposomes and droplets coated with lipid layers have been used as platforms for understanding live cells, constructing artificial cells, and implementing functional biomedical tools such as biosensing platforms and drug delivery systems. However, these systems are very fragile, which results from the absence of cytoskeletons in these systems. Here, we construct an artificial cytoskeleton using DNA nanostructures. The designed DNA oligomers form a Y-shaped nanostructure and connect to each other with their complementary sticky ends to form networks. To undercoat lipid membranes with this DNA network, we used cationic lipids that attract negatively charged DNA. By encapsulating the DNA into the droplets, we successfully created a DNA shell underneath the membrane. The DNA shells increased interfacial tension, elastic modulus, and shear modulus of the droplet surface, consequently stabilizing the lipid droplets. Such drastic changes in stability were detected only when the DNA shell was in the gel phase. Furthermore, we demonstrate that liposomes with the DNA gel shell are substantially tolerant against outer osmotic shock. These results clearly show the DNA gel shell is a stabilizer of the lipid membrane akin to the cytoskeleton in live cells.

Surface Interaction of Water-in-Oil Emulsion Droplets with Interfacially Active Asphaltenes

Adsorption of interfacially active components at the water/oil interface plays critical roles in determining the properties and behaviors of emulsion droplets. In this study, the droplet probe atomic force microscopy (AFM) technique was applied, for the first time, to quantitatively study the interaction mechanism between water-in-oil (W/O) emulsion droplets with interfacially adsorbed asphaltenes. The behaviors and stability of W/O emulsion droplets were demonstrated to be significantly influenced by the asphaltene concentration of organic solution where the emulsions were aged, aging time, force load, contact time, and solvent type. Bare water droplets could readily coalesce with each other in oil (i.e., toluene), while interfacially adsorbed asphaltenes could sterically inhibit droplet coalescence and induce interfacial adhesion during separation of the water droplets. For low asphaltene concentration cases, the adhesion increased with increasing asphaltene concentration (≤100 mg/L), but it significantly decreased at relatively high asphaltene concentration (e.g., 500 mg/L). Experiments in Heptol (i.e., mixture of toluene and heptane) showed that the addition of a poor solvent for asphaltenes (e.g., heptane) could enhance the interfacial adhesion between emulsion droplets at relatively low asphaltene concentration but could weaken the adhesion at relatively high asphaltene concentration. This work has quantified the interactions between W/O emulsion droplets with interfacially adsorbed asphaltenes, and the results provide useful implications into the stabilization mechanisms of W/O emulsions in oil production. The methodology in this work can be readily extended to other W/O emulsion systems with interfacially active components.

Interfacial Layer Properties of a Polyaromatic Compound and its Role in Stabilizing Water-in-Oil Emulsions

Physical properties of interfacial layers formed at the xylene-water interface by the adsorption of a polyaromatic organic compound, N-(1-hexylheptyl)-N'-(5-carbonylicpentyl) perylene-3,4,9,10-tetracarboxylic bisimide (in brief, C5Pe), were studied systematically. The deprotonation of the carboxylic group of C5Pe at alkaline pH made it highly interfacially active, significantly reducing the xylene-water interfacial tension. Thin liquid film experiments showed a continuous buildup of heterogeneous C5Pe interfacial layers at the xylene-water interfaces, which contributed to the formation of stable W/O emulsions. Continual accumulation and rearrangement of C5Pe aggregates at the xylene-water interface to form a thick layer was confirmed by in situ Brewster angle microscopy (BAM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The rheology measurement of the interfacial layer by double-wall ring interfacial rheometry under oscillatory shear showed that the interfacial layers formed from C5Pe solutions of high concentrations were substantially more elastic and rigid. The presence of elastically dominant interfacial layers of C5Pe led to the formation of stable water-in-xylene emulsions.

Interfacial sciences in unconventional petroleum production: from fundamentals to applications

With the ever increasing demand for energy to meet the needs of growth in population and improvement in the living standards, in particular in developing countries, the abundant unconventional oil reserves (about 70% of total world oil), such as heavy oil, oil/tar sands and shale oil, are playing an increasingly important role in securing global energy supply.

Mechanistic study on demulsification of water-in-diluted bitumen emulsions by ethylcellulose

In our previous study, ethylcellulose (EC), an effective, nontoxic, and biodegradable natural polymer, was found effective in dewatering water-in-diluted bitumen emulsions. In this study, the demulsification mechanism of water-in-diluted bitumen emulsions by EC is investigated. In situ experiments using a micropipet apparatus provided direct evidence on both flocculation and coalescence of water droplets in diluted bitumen by EC. The addition of EC was found to decrease naphtha-diluted bitumen-water interfacial tension significantly. At the molecular level, AFM imaging revealed disruption of the continuous interfacial films formed from surface-active components of bitumen by EC. Our study clearly indicates that the demulsification by EC is through both flocculation and coalescence of water droplets, attained by competitive adsorption of EC at the oil-water interface and disruption of the original protective interfacial films formed from the surface-active components of bitumen.

Water-in-model oil emulsions studied by small-angle neutron scattering: interfacial film thickness and composition

The ever-increasing worldwide demand for energy has led to the upgrading of heavy crude oil and asphaltene-rich feedstocks becoming viable refining options for the petroleum industry. Traditional problems associated with these feedstocks, particularly stable water-in-petroleum emulsions, are drawing increasing attention. Despite considerable research on the interfacial assembly of asphaltenes, resins, and naphthenic acids, much about the resulting interfacial films is not well understood. Here, we describe the use of small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) to elucidate interfacial film properties from model emulsion systems. Modeling the SANS data with both a polydisperse core/shell form factor as well as a thin sheet approximation, we have deduced the film thickness and the asphaltenic composition within the stabilizing interfacial films of water-in-model oil emulsions prepared in toluene, decalin, and 1-methylnaphthalene. Film thicknesses were found to be 100-110 A with little deviation among the three solvents. By contrast, asphaltene composition in the film varied significantly, with decalin leading to the most asphaltene-rich films (30% by volume of the film), while emulsions made in toluene and methylnaphthalene resulted in lower asphaltenic contents (12-15%). Through centrifugation and dilatational rheology, we found that trends of decreasing water resolution (i.e., increasing emulsion stability) and increasing long-time dilatational elasticity corresponded with increasing asphaltene composition in the film. In addition to the asphaltenic composition of the films, here we also deduce the film solvent and water content. Our analyses indicate that 1:1 (O/W) emulsions prepared with 3% (w/w) asphaltenes in toluene and 1 wt % NaCl aqueous solutions at pH 7 and pH 10 resulted in 80-90 A thick films, interfacial areas around 2600-3100 cm (2)/mL, and films that were roughly 25% (v/v) asphaltenic, 60-70% toluene, and 8-12% water. The increased asphaltene and water film composition at pH 10 versus pH 7, along with unique dynamic interfacial tension profiles, suggested that the protonation state of carboxylic moieties within asphaltenes impacts the final film properties. This was further supported when we characterized similar asphaltenic emulsions that also contained 9-anthracence carboxylic acid (ACA). Addition of this aromatic acid led to slightly thinner films (70-80 A) that were characteristically more aqueous (up to 20% by volume) and 5-6% (v/v) ACA. This unique in situ characterization (deduced entirely from SANS data from emulsion samples) of the entire film composition calls for further investigation regarding the role this film-based water plays in emulsion stability.

Bicontinuous emulsions stabilized solely by colloidal particles

Recent large-scale computer simulations suggest that it may be possible to create a new class of soft solids, called 'bijels', by stabilizing and arresting the bicontinuous interface in a binary liquid demixing via spinodal decomposition using particles that are neutrally wetted by both liquids. The interfacial layer of particles is expected to be semi-permeable; hence, if realized, these new materials would have many potential applications, for example, as micro-reaction media. However, the creation of bijels in the laboratory faces serious obstacles. In general, fast quench rates are necessary to bypass nucleation, so that only samples with limited thickness can be produced, which destroys the three-dimensionality of the putative bicontinuous network. Moreover, even a small degree of unequal wettability of the particles by the two liquids can lead to ill-characterized, 'lumpy' interfacial layers and therefore irreproducible material properties. Here, we report a reproducible protocol for creating three-dimensional samples of bijel in which the interfaces are stabilized by essentially a single layer of particles. We demonstrate how to tune the mean interfacial separation in these bijels, and show that mechanically, they indeed behave as soft solids. These characteristics and their tunability will be of great value for microfluidic applications.

The behaviour of micro-bitumen drops in aqueous clay environments

This study summarises the rheological behaviour of emulsion bitumen drops in the presence of aqueous solutions of de-ionised or process water (DIW or PW) containing montmorillonite clays (M) and/or calcium ions (Ca++). The presence of calcium ions and montmorillonite clays resulted in the plastic behaviour of bitumen drops. In a DIW+M+Ca++ system, increasing temperature and calcium ion concentration resulted in an increase in the number and degree of plastic bitumen drops. In the presence of considerable amounts of Ca++ ions and/or at higher experimental temperature, bitumen drops in a PW+M system exhibited no significant overall plasticity of their surfaces. Both calcium and sodium ions contained in process water compete with each other to occupy the montmorillonite clay surface. At the pH value of process water (pH congruent with8), increasing the temperature did not change the value of bitumen droplet zeta potential. Stability of bitumen-in-water emulsions at 22 degrees C showed that bitumen droplets coalesced upon contact in the DIW+M system. The addition of calcium ions (Ca++) led to the inhibition of coagulation and coalescence of bitumen droplets, which may indicate the formation of CaM aggregates at the bitumen-water interface.