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Science 18 August 2006:
Vol. 313. no. 5789, p. 888
DOI: 10.1126/science.313.5789.888f
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Surfactants are widely used to stabilize emulsions in products, such as cosmetics, whose constituents would otherwise fail to mix. Many industrial processes, however, have multiple steps that require separating emulsion components after reaction or transport. Liu et al. (p. 958) show that amidine molecules bearing long hydrophobic tails can be cycled reversibly between surfactant and nonsurfactant forms. Room-temperature treatment of the amidines with an atmosphere of CO2 produces bicarbonate salts that stabilize aqueous-hydrocarbon emulsions. Bubbling of air through the system at 65°C reverses the reaction and breaks the emulsion. In the absence of CO2, the amidines act as effective de-emulsifiers of aqueous-crude oil suspensions.




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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)