CHARACTERIZATION OF WATER-IN-OIL EMULSIONS BY MEANS OF DIELECTRIC-SPECTROSCOPY

A simple microscopic model of an array of water droplets separated by thin oil films is analysed and compared with experimental data from a range of water-in-oil emulsions of high volume fraction in order to delineate the nature of the cooperative effects in such systems. It is shown that a simple summation in series and parallel of the response of isolated particles is fundamentally incapable of giving an acceptable description of the experimental data as is the more complex theoretical model proposed by Hanai. The nature of the corrections to the model are considered from an experimental viewpoint, and the need for a model which is capable of reproducing all the aspects of the experimental situation is discussed.