Gelatin microemulsion-based gels with the cationic surfactant cetyltrimethylammonium bromide: a self-diffusion and conductivity study

In this contribution we demonstrate that gelatin can jellify also water-in-oil microemulsions based on the cationic surfactant cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB). The partial stability diagram of the system CTAB + 1-pentanol + water + hexane + gelatin was determined. The resulting microemulsionbased gels (MBGs) were characterized by means of conductivity and pulsed gradient spin-echo NMR. For the first time the water self-diffusion coefficient was measured in gelatin MBGs, and the results were successfully analyzed in terms of diffusion in an interconnected network of aqueous channels.