Controlling Microemulsion Structure through Interfacial Curvature

By using a three component model microemulsion system of didodecyldimethylammonium bromide - alkanes - water, the role of curvature as the determinant of the microstructure becomes clear. Studies using varying bulk oil chain length show that the interfacial curvature is set by a balance between repulsive headgroup forces and the hydrocarbon chain repulsion, augmented by oil uptake in the surfactant tails. by applying different stategies to alter this balance, the results show that the properties and structure of the model system are consistant with those predicted by geometric packing arguments