Physics of asphaltene micelles and microemulsions - theory and experiment

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Abstract
Static and dynamic surface tension, small-angle neutron scattering, and conductivity measurement are applied to characterize the physical properties of asphaltene micelles and microemulsions. The effect of the structure distribution of asphaltene monomers on micellization kinetics, monomer packing in the micelle, micellar growth, and the percolation of the microemulsion droplets is discussed. A phenomenological model is developed to analyse the conductivity data from asphaltene W/O microemulsion from which a packing scheme for monomers in the micelles is proposed. The percolation transition of asphaltene microemulsion droplets is measured and analysed. An argument is given to rationalize the critical exponents of the percolation transition.