Novel interfacial phenomena at liquid–liquid interfaces of the three-component surfactant system water+n-tetradecane+C6E2

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Abstract
In this study, we have found, by simply adjusting system temperature, two wetting transitions at different liquid–liquid interfaces in three liquid phases coexisting region of the system H2O+n‐tetradecane+diethylene glycol monohexyl ether (C6E2). When the temperature close to the lower critical consolute temperature, an intruding (or wetting) layer of the lower water‐rich phase is formed between the upper oil‐rich and the middle amphiphile‐rich phase, and, with only a small amount of middle phase, the middle phase is formed a lenticular droplet suspending on the interface between the upper and the lower phase. A wetting transition is occurred with increasing temperature and the intruding (or wetting) layer of the lower phase is contracted into several beads suspending on the interface between the upper and the middle phase. These suspending beads of the lower phase vanish as increasing temperature, however, the middle phase still forms a lenticular droplet. With further increasing temperature, before the upper critical consolute temperature is reached, another wetting transition is observed, i.e., the lenticular droplet of middle phase collapses and forms a thin layer separating the upper and the lower phase.