Percolation behavior in W/O emulsions stabilized by interfacially active fractions from crude oils in high external electric fields

In this communication we report on a percolation behavior of water in oil emulsions stabilized by indigenous surfactants from crude oils in high external electric fields, The static permittivity of the emulsion investigated increases with the applied electric field, When the electric field reaches a certain strength the system collapses and the permittivity of the system resembles that of a series coupling of the water and the oil domains, Regression analysis of a proposed scaling law shows that the system behaves according to a static percolation model, i.e., a bicontinuous system. We compare the percolation behavior in high electric fields to that reported in temperature and conductivity studies in w/o microemulsions. (C) 1996 Academic Press, Inc.