Team behind world’s first magnetic soap makes magnetically responsive emulsions

Press release issued: 21 June 2012

Earlier this year, a team of scientists, led by Professor Julian Eastoe in the University of Bristol’s School of Chemistry, announced they had created a liquid surfactant (soap) that could be moved by a magnet. This work meant that surfactants could be directed towards specific points or removed from a mixture just by applying a magnet.

This work meant that surfactants could be directed towards specific points or removed from a mixture just by applying a magnet.

Now, the team has expanded the use of this surfactant by making magnetically responsive emulsions with magnetic surfactant stabilisers.

Professor Eastoe said: “Compared to nanoparticle-stabilised magnetic emulsions, a major advantage of these magnetic surfactants is the simple synthesis and purification, offering new possibilities for molecular design of specialist surfactants.

"For example, replacing the surfactant alkyl tails with fluorocarbons could result in supercritical CO2-compatible magnetic responsive emulsions for oil and gas field flooding.”

Paper

‘Magnetic emulsions with responsive surfactants’ by Paul Brown, Craig P. Butts, Jing Cheng, Julian Eastoe, Christopher A. Russell and Gregory N. Smith in Soft Matter

Further information

Bristol scientists produce world’s first magnetic soap (Press release 23 Jan 2012)

The discovery received widespread media coverage around the world.