Abstract:
The aim of this research was to investigate the micro emulsion formation of motor oil with alcohol ethoxylate (AEs), nonionic surfactant derived from plam oil, without adding alcohol. The alcohol ethoxylate surfactants with different ethoxylate groups (AE3, AE7 and AE9) were mixed with methyl ester sulphonate (MES) and sorbitan monooleate (Span 80) for forming micro emulsions with motor oil at various temperatures (20℃, 30℃, 40℃, and 50℃). Span 80 used as a lipophilic linker that was found to be crucial to the formation of these micro emulsion systems. The mixed surfactant system of AE3 and AE7 (2:1) with Span 80 was found to form middle phase micro emulsions (Winser Type III) at relatily low surfactant concentrations. For all of the studied surfactant systems, temperature showed a significant effect on the micro emulsion phase transformation and the lowest values of the critical micro emulsion concentrations were achieved at 50 ℃.
