ABSTRACT
The term "microemulsion" has been fancied since the fundamental studies carried out in the seventies to develop enhanced oil-recovery processes have shown that some systems, so-called optimum for oil recovery, were related to very peculiar surfactant self-assembly structures. These structures have many potential applications in other fields such as detergency, polymerization, food processing, displays, cosmetics, and pharmaceuticals. For instance, one of these structures, the so-called bicontinuous microemulsion, is a single-phase mixture of oil, water, surfactant, and often other additives, that are associated with exceptional physico-chemical properties such as extremely low interfacial tension and high solubilization. Application to high-tech material manufacturing, drug delivery, or cleansing is promising. Other self-assembly structures like liposomes, vesicles, or liquid crystals are also at the dawn of their utilization.
