Monitoring the simultaneous Ostwald ripening and solubilization of emulsions

The simultaneous Ostwald ripening of an emulsion and the solubilization of its oil droplets by added micellar surfactant solutions are monitored by measurements of time-averaged scattered intensities. A simple computer simulation model for the interpretation of the measurements is presented. Experimental data are analyzed with this model using one single parameter: an effective ratio of oil to surfactant molecules involved in the withdrawal of oil from the Ostwald ripening process by the added micelles. The fitted value of this parameter appears to be more than twice the one that can be predicted from the equilibrium solubilization of oil by the surfactant micelles, indicating that more oil is involved in the nonequilibrium exchange of oil and surfactant between micelles and droplets.