Nonaqueous Polar Solvents in Reverse Micelle Systems

The self-assembly of amphiphiles in the absence of water is studied. The assembly of amphiphiles into microemulsions and reverse micelles in nonpolar solvents while sequestering a polar nonaqueous core is discussed. Fletcher et al. used dynamic light scattering (DLS) and viscosimetry to study thermodynamically stable AOT stabilized dispersions of GY in n-heptane. Sarkar and co-workers have probed GY/AOT/isooctane reverse micelles through steady-state and time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy of two solvatochromic dyes, coumarin 480 and coumarin 490. Martino and Kaler reported the effect on microemulsion phase behavior and microstructure occurring when replacing water with PG, GY, and their mixtures in systems made with the nonionic surfactants pentaethylene glycol mono-n-decyl ether (C10E5). Mehta et al. have explored phase diagrams for several nonaqueous polar solvents in AOT/hexane.