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Demulsifying
Hello everyone,
I was wondering if you have every demulsified an oil-in-water emulsion stabilized by anionic surfactant? We are looking to break the emulsion which is stabilized by stearic acid. The pH is 6.5 at which some of the stearic acid is deprotonated and converted to stearate/emulsifier. To use stearic acid as emulsifier you need to convert it to the stearate, usually in the range of pH 6.5-8.5. The problem is we cannot lower the pH as much to completely protonate the stearate. My initial thought was that fully protonated stearic acid wouldn’t act as a soap anymore.
Looking forward to hearing your thoughts
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