Hello,
I have run several experiments in Turbiscan where I added 1mL oil in surfactant solutions at low concentration (0.03%) and use a high speed mixer to generate emulsions.I recorded the transmission T and the Backscattering BS at different heights for about 30 minutes (enough to get creaming in most of the cases, being single surfactant systems and very dilute). I wanted to use the Stoke's equation to obtain the droplet size. However, no meaningful variations were observed in BS across time, being transmission not zero after the mixing. Therefore, I used an exponential growth equation to fit the transmission profile at each height. From this fit, I obtained the equilibrium tao and I used it to calculate the speed of creaming at each height as v=h/ tao (h). I then substituted this V in the Stoke's equation and calculate droplet size of equilbrium at each height. However, the values I obtained are around hundresds um, which is too high. Is it correct to use T rather than BS to calculate v? If yes, what could be wrong in my calculations?
Thanks
What is your theoretical justification for using an exponential equation?
AFAIK, there is none.
Converting Turbiscan data to a size distribution is a hard problem that involves inverting nasty partial differential equations. Snce you are at a well equipped university, I'd look for a lab with a Malvern Mastersizer or similar and use laser diffraction sizing to gat the data that you want.
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