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Flygare Memorial Lecture, Professor Geraldine Richmond, University of Oregon, "Mulling over Nanoemulsions: Interfacial Molecular Structure, Stabilization and Assembly"

Event Type
Seminar/Symposium
Sponsor
Physical Chemistry
Location
B102 CLSL
Date
May 1, 2019   4:00 pm  
Contact
Lisa Johnson
E-Mail
lisa3@illinois.edu
Phone
217-300-9574
Views
84
Originating Calendar
Chemistry - Physical Chemistry Seminars

Mulling over Nanoemulsions: Interfacial Molecular Structure, Stabilization and Assembly

Prof. Geri Richmond

Presidential Chair in Science

Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry

University of Oregon

Eugene, OR 97403

    Since the Romans first spread oil on water to calm the raging seas, curiosity has persisted about the unique nature of the interface between water and a hydrophobic liquid.  Understanding how molecules behave at an oil-water interface is critical for the formulation of many commercial products and also for developing new oil-remediation dispersants that are environmentally benign.

    This presentation will focus on our most recent efforts in understanding what happens on a molecular level to interfacial water molecules at the oil-water junction of planar and spherical droplet surfaces in the absence of surfactants, and also how surfactants structure and assemble at these interfaces to stabilize the nanoemulsions. Through a comparison of this adsorptive behavior at the two surface geometries new insights into molecular factors that can be contributing to surfactant stabilization of emulsions will be presented.  The studies involve a combination of vibrational sum frequency spectroscopy, computational, zeta potential and surface tension measurements.

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