Phase diagram of a lyotropic mixture sodium bis (2 ethylhexyl) sulfosuccinate/dodecanol/water: Reverse micellar, cylindrical, lamellar, and sponge phases

A combined study of flow-induced optical birefringence, x-ray diffraction, optical observations, electrical measurements and 23Na NMR is reported with the aim to characterize the phase diagram of the ternary lyotropic mixture of sodium bis (2 ethylhexyl) sulfosuccinate, dodecanol, and water. One of the most interesting features of this phase diagram is the existence of a bicontinuous structure associated to an inverted sponge phase in the amphiphilic-rich region of it. This phase is surrounded by a micellar isotropic inverted phase. Besides these phases, a lamellar and a cylindrical (triclinic) phase were observed in the phase diagram.