Dynamic light scattering with an original optical scheme has been used for the investigation of opaque (strongly light-absorbing) asphaltene colloids in crude oils and hydrocarbon mixtures. Diffusion-limited aggregation and reaction-limited aggregation as well as a crossover between these two regimes have been observed. A simple interpolation for the crossover kinetics is proposed. Asphaltene colloidal structures, originally persisting in crude oils, have been detected. Addition of a precipitant above a threshold induces asphaltene aggregation. Depending on the nature of the precipitant, different crude oils respond differently on its addition: (a) exponential-in-time growth of aggregates to huge flocks or (b) fast formation of stable-in-size particles.
An accurate photon-correlation spectrometer capable of measuring scattered light at two fixed scattering angles simultaneously in the temperature range from 10 to 120 degrees C is described. For the detection of the correlation function of the scattered light both an original correlator (PhotoCor-SP) with a linear-time-scale channel spacing and an ALV GmbH correlator (Model ALV-5000) with a logarithmic-time-scale channel spacing are used. High-resolution static and dynamic light-scattering measurements near the critical point of a polystyrene solution were performed with this instrument. The static-intensity measurements reveal that the crossover from mean-field to Ising behavior occurs at a temperature at which the correlation length of the critical fluctuations becomes equal to the radius of gyration of the polymer molecule. We found that the wave-number dependence and the temperature dependence of the diffusion coefficient of the concentration fluctuations are not consistent with existing theory for critical dynamics in low-molecular-weight liquid mixtures.
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