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Transition from a Sponge-Like to an Onion-Like Nanostructure in the L3 Phase - Part I
Philipp Menold1, Reinhard Strey2, Stefan Roitsch2
1Institute of Physical Chemistry, University of Stuttgart, Pfaffenwaldring 55, 70569 Stuttgart, Germany.
Hypothesis:
In the phase diagram of the system H2O/NaCl - AOT (sodium bis(2-ethylhexyl) sulfosuccinate) a homogeneous L3 channel can be detected at T = 25 °C as a function of the surfactant and the NaCl mass fraction. Our hypothesis is that a structural transition from a sponge-like to an onion-like structure occurs in this channel.
Experiments:
We (a) determined the relevant part of the phase diagram, (b) carried out electrical conductivity and viscosity measurements, (c) visualized the nanostructure with freeze-fracture electron microscopy (FFEM) and freeze fracture direct imaging (FFDI), (d) determined the characteristic length scales from Small Angle Neutron Scattering (SANS) curves.
Findings:
We detected a narrow one-phase L3 channel in which the conductivities decrease, while the viscosities increase with increasing surfactant and salt mass fractions. Together with the FFEM/FFDI images and the SANS curves we provide experimental evidence for a structural transition from a sponge-like to an onion-like structure: all structures as well as their coexistences are thermodynamically stable.
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