Resumen

CANO-SARMIENTO, C. et al. Micromorphometric characteristics of α-tocopherol emulsions obtained by microfluidization. Rev. Mex. Ing. Quím [online]. 2014, vol.13, n.1, pp.201-212. ISSN 1665-2738.

This work aimed to study the effect of different types of surfactants (non-ionic, cationic, anionic) on the micelle size and aggregation pattern of α-tocopherol emulsions produced by microfluidization prepared by using one and two cycles. Tween-20, Lecithin (PhC) and dodecyl sodium sulfate (SDS) were used as the non-ionic, cationic and anionic surfactants, respectively. Particle size was determined by image analysis and agglomeration was characterized with micromorphometric parameters such as fractal dimension (FD) and lacunarity (Λ). Average size was maximum (10.65 µm) when using Tween-20, whereas this parameter was the lowest (2.76 µm) when using PhC. The greater contributions to changes in FD and Λ were due to the presence of Tw and SDS. With PhC, it was possible to observe a system with high values of FD (1.92) and low values of Λ (0.15). PhC contributes to the stability of the emulsion despite of the concentration and number of microfluidization cycles and presented better dispersion and more irregular micelle structures than when using other surfactants.

Palabras llave : agglomerates; surfactant; fractal dimension; lacunarity; microfluidization.