Kinetics of morphological changes in surfactant systems

Equilibrium structures of surfactants have been studied in much more detail than morphological changes that can occur under non-equilibrium conditions. Recent experiments attempt to analyse pathways of such morphological transitions, in particular for micellar kinetics, solubilisation and formation/break-up of vesicles. Significant progress was made with respect to the achievable time-resolution in such structural investigations, which allows to identify intermediate structures. Understanding and control of the dynamics of surfactant systems is of fundamental importance for many applications of surfactants.