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Updated: Mar 28, 2026

Studying Surfactant Effects on Hydrate Crystallization at Oil-Water Interfaces Using a Low-Cost Integrated Modular Peltier Device
Published on: March 18, 2020
Thermoreversible crystallization of charged colloids due to adsorption/desorption of ionic surfactants
Ai Murakado1, Akiko Toyotama1, Masaaki Yamamoto1
1Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Graduate School of Nagoya City University, 3-1 Tanabe, Mizuho, Nagoya City, Aichi 467-8603, Japan.
Abstract:
We report that charged colloids exhibit thermoreversible crystallization via the adsorption of ionic surfactants onto particle surfaces. Due to the temperature dependence of the adsorption quantity, the colloids crystallized upon cooling and melted upon heating. To clarify the influences of surfactant adsorption on the crystallization, polystyrene (PS) particles dispersed in ethylene glycol (EG)/water mixtures were employed, enabling continuous tuning of the adsorption quantity by changing the EG concentration. The thermoreversible crystallization/melting behavior was found to be mainly attributable to changes in the ionic strength of the medium resulting from variation in the concentration of the non-adsorbed ionic surfactant molecules with temperature. We expect that the present findings will be useful for fine control of colloidal crystallization and the further study of colloidal crystallization in low permittivity media.
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