Using neutron reflectivity to understand the structural basis for the rheology of molten chocolate
Molten chocolate is a semi-solid suspension of (mostly) sugar, but also cocoa and milk solids in oil. In order to allow the sugar grains to flow past each other, either when the chocolate is being made, or when it has melted in your mouth, it also contains surfactant additives. These are mostly naturally occuring products, such as lecithin, which comprises lipids which are found at surfaces in nature, but also some polymeric molecules such as PGPR. Rheology measurements suggest that the two additives behave cooperatively. Building on previous SANS measurements, we will use neutron reflectivity to determine how the two components are distributed at the oil/sucrose interface. This will allow us to test a model we have derived using polymer physics to explain how the additives lubricate the sugar grains. Understanding this would enable nicer, healthier and cheaper chocolate to be manufactured.
Please note that you will need to login with your ILL credentials to download the data.
Download DataThe recommended format for citing this dataset in a research publication is in the following format:
TITMUSS Simon; I.Manasi and SAERBECK Thomas. (2016). Using neutron reflectivity to understand the structural basis for the rheology of molten chocolate. Institut Laue-Langevin (ILL) doi:10.5291/ILL-DATA.9-13-642
ILL has partnered with DataCite as the registration agency
for data persistent identifiers.