Flocculation of Choline Chloride Stabilized Xylene/Water Emulsion by Biopolymers

Abstract

The effect of varying concentrations of various biopolymers and proteins was studied on the choline chloride stabilized xylene in water emulsion. The system was flocculated by Ribonucleic acid, Deoxyribonucleic acid, Bovine serum albumin and Egg albumin and the flocculation occurred in the system was studied haemocytometrically by counting the number of flocculated and unflocculated droplets from the microphotographs of the emulsions. Zeta potential in presence of these biopolymers and proteins was measured using microelectrophoretic technique with the help of Hukel and Overbeek's equations. The operating van der Waal's forces of attraction and coulombic force of repulsion were calculated, and summing up these two, the interaction energies were evaluated. The stability of the emulsions was discussed in the light of the modern theory of colloidal stability.