Microemulsions in separation sciences

Studying surfactant mass transport through dynamic interfacial tension measurements: A review of the models, experiments, and the contribution of microfluidics

Surfactant mass transport towards an interface plays a critical role during formation of emulsions, foams and in industrial processes where two immiscible phases coexist. The understanding of these mechanisms as experimentally observed by dynamic interfacial tension measurements, is crucial. In this review, theoretical models describing both equilibrated systems and surfactant kinetics are covered. Experimental results from the literature are analysed based on the nature of surfactants and the tensiometry methods used. The innovative microfluidic techniques that have become available to study both diffusion and adsorption mechanisms during surfactant mass transport are discussed and compared with classical methods. This review focuses on surfactant transport during formation of droplets or bubbles; stabilisation of dispersed systems is not discussed here.

Microemulsions of Nonionic Surfactant with Water and Various Homologous Esters: Preparation, Phase Transitions, Physical Property Measurements, and Application for Extraction of Tricyclic Antidepressant Drugs from Aqueous Media

Microemulsions are nanocolloidal systems composed of water, an oil, and a surfactant, sometimes with an additional co-surfactant, which have found a wide range of practical applications, including the extractive removal of contaminants from polluted water. In this study, microemulsion systems, including a nonionic surfactant (Brij 30), water, and esters selected from two homologous series of C1-C6 alkyl acetates and ethyl C1-C4 carboxylates, respectively, were prepared by the surfactant titration method. Phase transitions leading to the formation of Winsor II and Winsor IV microemulsions were observed and phase diagrams were constructed. The dependences of phase transitions on the salinity and pH and the addition of isopropanol as a co-surfactant were also investigated. Some physical properties, namely density, refractive index, electrical conductivity, dynamic viscosity, and particle size, were measured for a selection of Winsor IV microemulsions, providing further insight into some other phase transitions occurring in the monophasic domains of phase diagrams. Finally, Winsor II microemulsions were tested as extraction solvents for the removal of four tricyclic antidepressant drugs from aqueous media. Propyl acetate/Brij 30/H2O microemulsions provided the best extraction yields (>90%), the highest Nernst distribution coefficients (~40-88), and a large volumetric ratio of almost 3 between the recovered purified water and the resulting microemulsion extract. Increasing the ionic strength (salinity) or the pH of the aqueous antidepressant solutions led to an improvement in extraction efficiencies, approaching 100%. These results could be extrapolated to other classes of pharmaceutical contaminants and suggest ester- and nonionic surfactant-based microemulsions are a promising tool for environmental remediation.

Modulating Aggregation in Microemulsions: The Dispersion by Competitive Intermolecular Interaction Model

A phenomenological model has been developed for the mechanism of action of phase modifiers as additives that control aggregation phenomena within water-in-oil emulsions. The "Dispersion by Competitive Intermolecular Interaction" model (DCI) explicitly considers the strength and prevalence of different intermolecular interactions that influence the molecular association of amphiphiles, the resulting distribution of aggregate size, and interaggregate interactions that influence phase phenomena. The existing "cosolvent" and "cosurfactant" association models, which describe the distribution of these amphiphiles within the solution, are re-examined in the context of intermolecular interactions. The different contributions of intermolecular interactions to the potential energy landscape of molecular association create distinct regimes within the DCI model that explain prior observations of cosolvent and cosurfactant behavior. The specific system under consideration, the N,N,N^',N'-tetraoctyl diglycolamide amphiphile extractant with tributyl phosphate or dihexyl octanamide phase modifier additives, represents a new regime-labeled the polar disruption regime-where strong hydrogen bonding of the phase modifier with the polar-solutes disrupts the internal hydrogen bonding network of the polar micellar core, thereby decreasing aggregate size and narrowing the polydispersity in solution.

How the external solvent in biocompatible reverse micelles can improve the alkaline phosphatase behavior

In the last decade, the nature of the nonpolar solvents that can be part of reverse micelles (RMs) has been the topic of several investigations to improve their applications. In this sense, the hydrolysis of 1-naphthyl phosphate catalyzed by the enzyme alkaline phosphatase (AP) was used as a probe to investigate the effect of the change of the external solvent on RMs formulated with the anionic surfactant sodium diethylhexyl sulfosuccinate (AOT). As external nonpolar solvents, two biocompatible lipophilic esters, isopropyl myristate and methyl laurate, and the traditional nonpolar solvents, n-heptane and benzene, were used. The results were compared among the RMs investigated and with the reaction in homogeneous media. Thus, the effect of the nanoconfinement as well as the impact of the replacement of a conventional external nonpolar solvent by biocompatible solvents were analyzed. The results indicate that the catalytic efficiency in the AOT RMs is larger than that in homogeneous media, denoting a different hydration level over the AP enzyme, which is directly related to the different degrees of nonpolar solvent penetration to the RM interface. Our findings demonstrated that toxic solvents such as n-heptane and benzene can be replaced by nontoxic ones (isopropyl myristate or methyl laurate) in AOT RMs without affecting the performance of micellar systems as nanoreactors, making them a green and promising alternative toward efficient and sustainable chemistry.

A novel process for comprehensive resource utilization of hazardous chromium sludge: Progressive recovery of Si, V, Fe and Cr

Chromium sludge is a hazardous solid waste which cannot be effectively treated but only piled up and abandoned, causing serious environment pollution and resource wasting. This work proposes an effective novel process to separately recover all resources in chromium sludge via a sustainable way. The obtained acid solving liquid from chromium sludge is desiliconized by cationic flocculant (PCAM) to induce coprecipitation of polysilicate gel and PCAM, which mixture is calcinated to generate the product of white carbon black in purity of 94.35% with a recovery of 92.58%. After desiliconization, V in the solving liquid is selectively extracted by microemulsion (ME), which is recovered as V₂O₅ in purity of 99.34% with a recovery of 95.53% by the subsequent procedure of stripping-precipitation-calcination. The Fe³⁺ in raffinate is reduced to Fe²⁺ cations by Na₂SO₃, and is then recovered by H₂C₂O₄ precipitation to generate the FeC₂O₄ product in purity of 99.12% with a recovery of 98.25%. Cr³⁺ cations in residual solution are recovered by alkaline precipitation and calcination to generate the Cr₂O₃ product in purity of 98.25% with a recovery of 92.68%. This work provides fresh penetrations into the synchronous detoxification, resource recovery and value-added utilization of hazardous industrial solid wastes.

Microemulsion extraction: An efficient way for simultaneous detoxification and resource recovery of hazardous wastewater containing V(V) and Cr(VI)

Vanadium (V) metallurgy industry produces significant amount of ammonium polyvanadate (APV) wastewater containing V(V) and Cr(VI), thereby polluting the ecological environment and adversely affecting human health and wasting natural resources. Herein, an efficient method for separating V and chromium (Cr) from APV wastewater is proposed based on an artful pretreatment of the selective transformation of Cr(VI) using microemulsion extraction to realize harmless treatment of the wastewater and recycling of V and Cr resources. The influence of various factors on the V and Cr extraction efficiencies has been investigated, including the extractant concentration, aqueous phase-to-microemulsion volume ratio, contact time, and temperature. Furthermore, the principle of Cr transformation and microemulsion extraction and stripping has been illustrated and the recyclability of the microemulsion has been evaluated. Under optimum conditions, 96.29 % of V(V) and 95.56 % of Cr(VI) were separately recovered from the AVP wastewater, confirming the efficient separation and recovery of V and Cr. This study highlights a new approach for the separate recovery of V(V) and Cr(VI) from hazardous wastewater and provides new insights into the simultaneous detoxification and resource utilization of industrial hazardous wastes.

Mixing oil and water with ionic liquids: bicontinuous microemulsions under confinement

We report the structural transition of a phosphonium ionic liquid-based microemulsion from the bulk to nanoconfined between atomically flat micas. Upon the nanoconfinement, we observed a firmly surface-adsorbed ionic liquid film that stabilizes the nanoconfined microemulsion. Further confinement (<11 nm) induces rearrangements in the microemulsion culminating into two well-ordered layers with slow dynamics.

Characterization of Reverse Micelles Formulated with the Ionic-Liquid-like Surfactant Bmim-AOT and Comparison with the Traditional Na-AOT: Dynamic Light Scattering, 1H NMR Spectroscopy, and Hydrolysis Reaction of Carbonate as a Probe

The present study investigated how the presence of butylmethylimidazolium cation (bmim⁺) alters the interfacial properties of reverse micelles (RMs) created with the ionic liquid-like surfactant 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium 1,4-bis-2-ethylhexylsulfosuccinate (bmim-AOT), in comparison to sodium 1,4-bis-2-ethylhexylsulfosuccinate (Na-AOT) RMs, employing dynamic light scattering (DLS) and ¹H NMR techniques. Moreover, through the hydrolysis reaction of bis(4-nitrophenyl)carbonate inside both RMs as reaction probe, interfacial properties changes were explored in more detail. The kinetic solvent isotope effect was also analyzed. Micellar systems were formed using n-heptane as external nonpolar solvent and water as the polar component. According to the DLS studies, water is encapsulated inside the organized media; however, a different tendency is observed depending on the cationic component of the surfactant. For Na-AOT system, the results suggest that the micellar shapes are probably spherical, while in the case of bmim-AOT, a transition from ellipsoidal to spherical micelles could be occurring when water is added. ¹H NMR data show that water is structured differently when Na⁺ cation is replaced by bmim⁺; in bmim-AOT RMs, the interaction of water with the surfactant is weaker and the water hydrogen-bonding network is less disturbed than in Na-AOT RMs. Kinetic studies reveal that the hydrolysis reaction in bmim-AOT RMs was much more favorable in comparison to Na-AOT RMs. In addition, when water content decreases in bmim-AOT RMs, the hydrolysis reaction rate increases and the solvent isotope effect remains constant, while for Na-AOT solutions, both the reaction rate and the solvent isotope effect decrease. Our results indicate that bmim⁺ cation would be located in the surfactant layer in such a way the negative charge density in the interface is less than that in Na-AOT RMs, and the reaction is more favorable. Additionally, as ¹H NMR studies reveal, the interfacial water molecules would be more available in bmim-AOT RMs to participate in the nucleophilic attack. Therefore, the present study evidences how the replacement of Na⁺ counterion by bmim⁺ alters the composition of the interface of AOT RMs.

Phase behaviors and characterization of magnetic microemulsions containing pentaalkylguanidinium-based magnetic room-temperature ionic liquids (MRTILs)

Strong magnetic susceptibility and low viscosity magnetic microemulsions containing pentaalkylguanidinium-based magnetic room temperature ionic liquids.

Surfactant-free microemulsions of 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate, propylamine nitrate, and water

Generally, surfactants (or amphiphiles) are believed to be necessary components of microemulsions. However, it has been demonstrated that, in the absence of traditional surfactants, microemulsions can also form from a ternary system of two immiscible fluids (i.e., oil and water phases) and an amphi-solvent, but the current understanding of such surfactant-free microemulsions (SFMEs) is very limited. Herein, we report an SFME consisting of the hydrophobic ionic liquid (IL) 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate (bmimPF₆), the protic IL propylamine nitrate (PAN), and water, in which bmimPF₆ and PAN are used as the oil phase and the amphi-solvent, respectively. The microstructures and structural transitions of the SFME were investigated using cyclic voltammetry, fluorescence spectroscopy, and ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy. The SFME exhibited water-in-bmimPF₆ (W/IL), bicontinuous (BC), and bmimPF₆-in-water (IL/W) microstructures, depending on the composition of the ternary system, similar to the case of traditional surfactant-based microemulsions (SBMEs). The three kinds of microstructures were confirmed by cryogenic transmission electron microscopy (cryo-TEM) observations. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on SFMEs composed of two ILs as components, especially where one is used as the amphi-solvent.

Microemulsion Electrokinetic Chromatography in Combination with Chemometric Methods to Evaluate the Holistic Quality Consistency and Predict the Antioxidant Activity of Ixeris sonchifolia (Bunge) Hance Injection

In this paper, microemulsion electrokinetic chromatography (MEEKC) fingerprints combined with quantification were successfully developed to monitor the holistic quality consistency of Ixeris sonchifolia (Bge.) Hance Injection (ISHI). ISHI is a Chinese traditional patent medicine used for its anti-inflammatory and hemostatic effects. The effects of five crucial experimental variables on MEEKC were optimized by the central composite design. Under the optimized conditions, the MEEKC fingerprints of 28 ISHIs were developed. Quantitative determination of seven marker compounds was employed simultaneously, then 28 batches of samples from two manufacturers were clearly divided into two clusters by the principal component analysis. In fingerprint assessments, a systematic quantitative fingerprint method was established for the holistic quality consistency evaluation of ISHI from qualitative and quantitative perspectives, by which the qualities of 28 samples were well differentiated. In addition, the fingerprint—efficacy relationship between the fingerprints and the antioxidant activities was established utilizing orthogonal projection to latent structures, which provided important medicinal efficacy information for quality control. The present study offered a powerful and holistic approach to evaluating the quality consistency of herbal medicines and their preparations.

Biochemical, Transcriptional, and Bioinformatic Analysis of Lipid Droplets from Seeds of Date Palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) and Their Use as Potent Sequestration Agents against the Toxic Pollutant, 2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorinated Dibenzo-p-Dioxin

Contamination of aquatic environments with dioxins, the most toxic group of persistent organic pollutants (POPs), is a major ecological issue. Dioxins are highly lipophilic and bioaccumulate in fatty tissues of marine organisms used for seafood where they constitute a potential risk for human health. Lipid droplets (LDs) purified from date palm, Phoenix dactylifera, seeds were characterized and their capacity to extract dioxins from aquatic systems was assessed. The bioaffinity of date palm LDs toward 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD), the most toxic congener of dioxins was determined. Fractioned LDs were spheroidal with mean diameters of 2.5 µm, enclosing an oil-rich core of 392.5 mg mL(-1). Isolated LDs did not aggregate and/or coalesce unless placed in acidic media and were strongly associated with three major groups of polypeptides of relative mass 32-37, 20-24, and 16-18 kDa. These masses correspond to the LD-associated proteins, oleosins, caleosins, and steroleosins, respectively. Efficient partitioning of TCDD into LDs occurred with a coefficient of log K LB/w,TCDD = 7.528 ± 0.024; it was optimal at neutral pH and was dependent on the presence of the oil-rich core, but was independent of the presence of LD-associated proteins. Bioinformatic analysis of the date palm genome revealed nine oleosin-like, five caleosin-like, and five steroleosin-like sequences, with predicted structures having putative lipid-binding domains that match their LD stabilizing roles and use as bio-based encapsulation systems. Transcriptomic analysis of date palm seedlings exposed to TCDD showed strong up-regulation of several caleosin and steroleosin genes, consistent with increased LD formation. The results suggest that the plant LDs could be used in ecological remediation strategies to remove POPs from aquatic environments. Recent reports suggest that several fungal and algal species also use LDs to sequester both external and internally derived hydrophobic toxins, which indicates that our approach could be used as a broader biomimetic strategy for toxin removal.

Simultaneous separation and determination of four phenylethanoid glycosides in rat plasma sample after oral administration of Cistanche salsa extract by microemulsion liquid chromatography

A simple, rapid and specific method was developed to separate as well as to determine the four phenylethanoid glycosides (PhGs) (echinacoside, tubuloside B, acteoside and isoacteoside) in rat plasma after oral administration of Cistanche salsa extract by reversed phase high performance liquid chromatography using a microemulsion as the mobile phase. The separations were performed on a Zorbax Extend-C18 column at 25°C. Photodiode-array detector was conducted at 322nm and with a flow rate of 0.8mLmin(-1). The optimized microemulsion mobile phase consisted of 0.3% triethylamine in 20mM phosphoric acid at pH 6.0, 0.8% (v/v) ethyl acetate as oil phase, 1.5% (v/v) Genapol X-080 as surfactant, 2.5% (v/v) n-propanol as co-surfactant. Under the optimal conditions, the calibration curve for four PhGs was linear in the range of 10-1000ngmL(-1) with the correlation coefficients greater than 0.9994. The intra-day and inter-day precision (RSD) were below 8.64% and the limits of detection (LOD) for the four PhGs were 0.4-1.3ngmL(-1) (S/N=3). The microemulsion liquid chromatography (MELC) method was successfully applied to separate and determine the four PhGs in rat plasma after oral administration of C. salsa extract.

Microscope measurements for the transient formation of W/O emulsions of sodium bis(2-ethylhexyl) sulfosuccinate in the dodecane/water interfacial region

The present study investigated the transient formation of water-in-oil (W/O) emulsions of sodium bis(2-ethylhexyl) sulfosuccinate (aerosol OT, AOT) in a dodecane/water interfacial region and the anomalous uptake of water in the dodecane phase by in situ bright-field optical microscopy and water concentration measurements in detail. The hydrodynamic radius of the individual W/O emulsions in the dodecane phase was determined to be 0.1-1.2 μm from the analysis of their diffusion behavior; they are much larger than common W/O microemulsions (a few nanometers in radius). At first, they were formed spontaneously in the dodecane/water interfacial region without shaking, and they diffused away into the dodecane phase. Then, almost all of them vanished at the interface by fusion. Their number and the water concentration in the dodecane phase increased first and then decreased gradually. The formation mechanism was discussed with estimated concentration profiles of AOT and water molecules, which suggests that larger W/O emulsions of 0.01-0.44 μm in radius can be formed in the dodecane phase near the interface (within 2 μm) because the concentration of AOT becomes lower than that of water there.

Extraction of gold(III) from hydrochloric acid solutions by CTAB/n-heptane/iso-amyl alcohol/Na2SO3 microemulsion

The extraction of Au(III) from hydrochloric acid solutions by microemulsion was studied. The extraction experiments were carried out using cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) as surfactant and iso-amyl alcohol as co-surfactant. Au(III) was found to be extracted into the microemulsion phase due to ion pair formation such as AuCl(4)(-)CTAB(+). The influence of temperature on the extraction of Au(III) has been investigated at temperatures ranging from 288 to 313 K. Temperature was found to decrease the distribution of Au(III). Thermodynamic parameters like enthalpy and entropy of the extraction, calculated by applying Van't Hoff equation, were -36.76 kJ mol(-1) and -84.87 J mol(-1) K(-1), respectively. Furthermore, the influence of the concentrations of hydrogen ion and chloride anion on the extraction efficiency (E%) were verified. Au(III) was extracted quantitatively (E%>99%) and selectively at the whole range of HCl concentrations (0.2-5 M). Recovery of gold from electrical waste and treatment of CTAB wastewater generated from the extraction were also discussed. Thus, the extraction of Au(III) from hydrochloric acid solutions by microemulsion is an effective approach.

Microemulsion extraction separation and determination of aluminium species by spectrofluorimetry

A simple and sensitive microemulsion extraction separation method was developed for the speciation of aluminium in tea samples by spectrofluorimetry. With 8-hydroxyquinoline (8-HQ) as the chelating agent and Triton X-100 Winsor II microemulsion as the extractant, separation of aluminium species in different pH solutions was achieved by microemulsion extraction. The formation of microemulsion, the conditions of extraction and determination of aluminium species were studied. The results showed that, the contents of aluminium species in tea leaves and infusions samples, such as total aluminium, total soluble aluminium, total granular aluminium, inorganic aluminium except Al-F, and (Al-F+Al-org), were obtained successfully under the optimal conditions. The limit of detection was 0.23 μg L(-1) in pH 9.5 solution, and 0.59 μg L(-1) in pH 6.0 solution respectively; the precision (RSD) for 11 replicate measurements of 10 μg L(-1) aluminium was 2.1% in pH 9.5 solution, and 2.8% in pH 6.0 solution respectively; the recoveries for the spiked samples were 96.8-103.5%. The proposed method is simple and efficient, which has been applied to the speciation of aluminium in tea samples with satisfactory results.

Investigations on the migration behavior of insulin and related synthetic analogues in CZE, MEKC and MEEKC employing different surfactants

The retention/migration behavior of insulin and five synthetic insulin analogues in CZE, MEKC and MEEKC employing seven different detergents within the latter two techniques has been investigated. Substantial changes in separation selectivity in MEKC could be observed for several insulins when moving from SDS to cholate-based micellar systems. Customized separations could be achieved by using mixtures of SDS and deoxycholate. A similar effect could be observed in MEEKC although the overall quality of MEEKC separations was inferior to those obtained with MEKC.

Comparison of microemulsion electrokinetic chromatography with high-performance liquid chromatography for fingerprint analysis of resina draconis

Microemulsion electrokinetic chromatography (MEEKC) has been developed for fingerprint analysis of resina draconis, a substitute for sanguis draconis in the Chinese market. The microemulsion as the running buffer was made up of 3.3% (w/v) sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), 6.6% (w/v) n-butanol, 0.8% (w/v) n-octane, and 10 mmol/L sodium tetraborate buffer (pH 9.2), which was also used as the solvent for ultrasonic extraction of both water- and fat-soluble compounds in the traditional Chinese medicine samples. Four batches of resina draconis obtained from different pharmaceutical factories located in different geographic regions were used to establish the electrophoretic fingerprint. MEEKC was performed using a Beckman PACE/MDQ system equipped with a diode-array detector and with monitoring at 280 nm. The fingerprint of resina draconis comprised 27 common peaks within 100 min. The relative standard deviations of the relative migration time of these common peaks were less than 2.1%. Through repetitive injection of the sample solution six times in 24 h, all relative standard deviations of the migration time and peak area of loureirin A and loureirin B were less than 2.5 and 3.8%, which demonstrated that the method had good stability and reproducibility. The relative peak areas of these common peaks in the electropherograms of four batches of resina draconis were processed with two mathematical methods, the correlation coefficient and the interangle cosine, to valuate the similarity. The values of the similarity degree of all samples were more than 0.91, which showed resina draconis samples from different origins were consistent. On the other hand, high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) coupled with photodiode-array detection was also applied to establish the fingerprint of resina draconis. The samples were separated with a LiChrospher C(18) column using acetonitrile (solvent A) and water containing 0.1% H(3)PO(4) (solvent B) as the mobile phase in linear gradient elution mode at a flow rate of 0.6 mL/min and detection was at 280 nm. There were only 20 common peaks in the HPLC fingerprint, and the values of the similarity degree of all samples were also more than 0.91. Though the similarity results of fingerprint analysis seemed to be the same, MEEKC resulted in more common peaks and higher separation efficiency for a variety of polarities of the components than HPLC. So, MEEKC was more suitable for development of the fingerprint of resina draconis.

Sorption of hydrophobic organic compounds (HOC) in rapeseed oil bodies

Oil-bodies are minute plant organelles (0.5-2.0microm diameter) consisting of an oil core surrounded by a phospholipid monolayer/proteinaceous membrane. Oil-bodies have been isolated from rapeseed seeds and demonstrated to constitute a novel type of micro-capsule suitable for the extraction of hydrophobic organic compounds from aqueous environments. Three hydrophobic pesticides: atrazine (2-chlor-4-ethyl-amino-6-isopropylamino-1,3,5-triazine), carbaryl (1-naphthyl methylcarbamate) and parathion (O,O-diethyl O-(4-nitrophenyl) phosphorothioate), as well as naphthalene and 2-phenylethanol were successfully extracted from aqueous solutions, with absorption in the inner oily core of OB as sorption mechanism. The OB membrane does not represent a barrier for the mass transfer of the compound towards the inner oily core of OB. Moreover, due to very high surface area to volume ratio, oil-bodies exhibit very good mass transfer properties compared with larger synthetic microcapsules or two-phase liquid-liquid extraction (LLE) techniques, which diminishes the need for strong agitation and avoids the formation of difficult to separate stable emulsions.