Surfactants for microemulsions

Research effort in past years has focused on the development of microemulsions with specific properties, namely, high solubilizing power and temperature insensitivity. Phase behavior studies have provided the foundations for this development. On the basis of mass balance analysis and the geometry of three-phase tie triangles, the composition of the surfactant films separating micro-water and oil domains in bicontinuous type microemulsions has been determined. This information allows a better comparison of the solubilizing power of surfactants. In addition, decisive progress has been made in the development of surfactant systems for the preparation of biocompatible microemulsions.