The dependence of water pool pH on the water content of the W/O microemulsions was investigated by using the absorbance ratio of pH-sensitive probe pyranine. The W/O microemulsions were prepared with a mixture of an aqueous solution of pH 1–13 containing pyranine, AOT and isooctane at
w0 = [water]/[AOT] = 10, 20, 30 and 40. The water pool pH was estimated by comparing the absorbance ratios given by the W/O microemulsions and the aqueous solutions of pH 1–13. The experimental results suggest that the water pool pH is kept approximately constant as a buffer regardless of the solution pH 4–11, and that the water pool pH increases with decreasing
w0. As an additive factor to affect the absorbance ratio of pyranine, high Na
+ counterion concentration in the water pool was focused on because the roughly estimated Na
+ concentration increases from 1.4 to 5.6 M with decreasing
w0. It was found by the ratio measurements for NaOH aqueous solutions that the ratio increases at NaOH concentration > 5 M, which suggests that the ratio given by the W/O microemulsions is affected by not only pH, but also high Na
+ concentration in the water pool. It would be correct to assume that the AOT-based W/O microemulsions play a role of the buffer, and that the water pool pH depends on
w0. However, attention should be paid to the possibility that the water pool pH estimated by the absorbance ratio of pyranine may include the effect of high Na
+ concentration in the water pool.
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