ABSTRACT
To describe the future of microemulsions is a most thrilling task, because the future of microemulsions may be twofold. First the application of these systems in academic research as model systems for intriguing surfactant association structures should be considered, and second, the direct industrial or semi-industrial use of these systems in technological processes. Depending on which future is considered, the conclusions are rather different. In this contribution we try to view both aspects of microemulsions. Academic research in the field of microemulsions in the future will most likely be concerned with highly optimized microemulsion systems and highly advanced instrumentation. In this way one can extract more detailed information on the systems and create the foundation for the development of sophisticated theoretical work. A combination of theoreticians and skilled experimentalists with access to advanced instrumentation and computational facilities is needed to bring forward high-level microemulsion research [1].
