1
|
Gradzielski M, Duvail M, de Molina PM, Simon M, Talmon Y, Zemb T. Using Microemulsions: Formulation Based on Knowledge of Their Mesostructure. Chem Rev 2021; 121:5671-5740. [PMID: 33955731 DOI: 10.1021/acs.chemrev.0c00812] [Citation(s) in RCA: 61] [Impact Index Per Article: 20.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/12/2023]
Abstract
Microemulsions, as thermodynamically stable mixtures of oil, water, and surfactant, are known and have been studied for more than 70 years. However, even today there are still quite a number of unclear aspects, and more recent research work has modified and extended our picture. This review gives a short overview of how the understanding of microemulsions has developed, the current view on their properties and structural features, and in particular, how they are related to applications. We also discuss more recent developments regarding nonclassical microemulsions such as surfactant-free (ultraflexible) microemulsions or ones containing uncommon solvents or amphiphiles (like antagonistic salts). These new findings challenge to some extent our previous understanding of microemulsions, which therefore has to be extended to look at the different types of microemulsions in a unified way. In particular, the flexibility of the amphiphilic film is the key property to classify different microemulsion types and their properties in this review. Such a classification of microemulsions requires a thorough determination of their structural properties, and therefore, the experimental methods to determine microemulsion structure and dynamics are reviewed briefly, with a particular emphasis on recent developments in the field of direct imaging by means of electron microscopy. Based on this classification of microemulsions, we then discuss their applications, where the application demands have to be met by the properties of the microemulsion, which in turn are controlled by the flexibility of their amphiphilic interface. Another frequently important aspect for applications is the control of the rheological properties. Normally, microemulsions are low viscous and therefore enhancing viscosity has to be achieved by either having high concentrations (often not wished for) or additives, which do not significantly interfere with the microemulsion. Accordingly, this review gives a comprehensive account of the properties of microemulsions, including most recent developments and bringing them together from a united viewpoint, with an emphasis on how this affects the way of formulating microemulsions for a given application with desired properties.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Michael Gradzielski
- Stranski-Laboratorium für Physikalische und Theoretische Chemie, Institut für Chemie, Technische Universität Berlin, D-10623 Berlin, Germany
| | - Magali Duvail
- ICSM, Université Montpellier, CEA, CNRS, ENSCM, 30207 Marcoule, France
| | - Paula Malo de Molina
- Centro de Física de Materiales (CFM) (CSIC-UPV/EHU)-Materials Physics Center (MPC), Paseo Manuel de Lardizabal 5, 20018 San Sebastián, Spain.,IKERBASQUE - Basque Foundation for Science, María Díaz de Haro 3, 48013 Bilbao, Spain
| | - Miriam Simon
- Stranski-Laboratorium für Physikalische und Theoretische Chemie, Institut für Chemie, Technische Universität Berlin, D-10623 Berlin, Germany.,Department of Chemical Engineering and the Russell Berrie Nanotechnolgy Inst. (RBNI), Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, IL-3200003, Israel
| | - Yeshayahu Talmon
- Department of Chemical Engineering and the Russell Berrie Nanotechnolgy Inst. (RBNI), Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, IL-3200003, Israel
| | - Thomas Zemb
- Stranski-Laboratorium für Physikalische und Theoretische Chemie, Institut für Chemie, Technische Universität Berlin, D-10623 Berlin, Germany.,ICSM, Université Montpellier, CEA, CNRS, ENSCM, 30207 Marcoule, France
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Jung D, Harting J, Sega M. Monolayer Structures of Supramolecular Antagonistic Salt Aggregates. J Phys Chem B 2021; 125:2351-2359. [PMID: 33634691 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.0c10005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
The speculated presence of monomolecular lamellae of antagonistic salts in oil-water mixtures has left several open questions besides their hypothetical existence, including their microscopic structure and stabilization mechanism. Here, we simulate the spontaneous formation of supramolecular aggregates of the antagonistic salt sodium tetraphenylborate (NaBPh4) in water and 3-methylpyridine (3-MP) at the atomistic level. We show that, indeed, the lamellae are formed by a monomolecular layer of the anion, enveloped by 3-MP and hydrated sodium counterions. To understand which thermodynamic forces drive the aggregation, we compare the full-atomistic model with a simplified one for the salt and show that the strong hydrophobic effect granted by the large excluded volume of the anion, together with electrostatic repulsion, suffice to explain the stability of the monomolecular lamellae.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- David Jung
- Helmholtz Institute Erlangen-Nürnberg for Renewable Energy, Forschungszentrum Jülich, Fürther Straße 248, 90429 Nürnberg, Germany
| | - Jens Harting
- Helmholtz Institute Erlangen-Nürnberg for Renewable Energy, Forschungszentrum Jülich, Fürther Straße 248, 90429 Nürnberg, Germany
| | - Marcello Sega
- Helmholtz Institute Erlangen-Nürnberg for Renewable Energy, Forschungszentrum Jülich, Fürther Straße 248, 90429 Nürnberg, Germany
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Glende G, de Wijn AS, Pousaneh F. The Vanishing water/oil interface in the presence of antagonistic salt. J Chem Phys 2020; 152:124707. [DOI: 10.1063/1.5142811] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/04/2023] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Gudrun Glende
- Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, 7491 Trondheim, Norway
| | - Astrid S. de Wijn
- Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, 7491 Trondheim, Norway
- Department of Physics, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Faezeh Pousaneh
- Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, 7491 Trondheim, Norway
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Sadakane K, Fujii K, Tsuzuki S, Watanabe H, Umebayashi Y. Solvation state of sodium tetraphenylborate in 3-methylpyridine and its aqueous solutions. J Mol Liq 2017. [DOI: 10.1016/j.molliq.2017.10.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
|
5
|
Kawabata Y, Bradbury R, Kugizaki S, Weigandt K, Melnichenko YB, Sadakane K, Yamada NL, Endo H, Nagao M, Seto H. Effect of interlamellar interactions on shear induced multilamellar vesicle formation. J Chem Phys 2017; 147:034905. [PMID: 28734290 DOI: 10.1063/1.4994563] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Shear-induced multilamellar vesicle (MLV) formation has been studied by coupling the small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) technique with neutron spin echo (NSE) spectroscopy. A 10% mass fraction of the nonionic surfactant pentaethylene glycol dodecyl ether (C12E5) in water was selected as a model system for studying weak inter-lamellar interactions. These interactions are controlled either by adding an anionic surfactant, sodium dodecyl sulfate, or an antagonistic salt, rubidium tetraphenylborate. Increasing the charge density in the bilayer induces an enhanced ordering of the lamellar structure. The charge density dependence of the membrane bending modulus was determined by NSE and showed an increasing trend with charge. This behavior is well explained by a classical theoretical model. By considering the Caillé parameters calculated from the SANS data, the layer compressibility modulus B¯ is estimated and the nature of the dominant inter-lamellar interaction is determined. Shear flow induces MLV formation around a shear rate of 10 s-1, when a small amount of charge is included in the membrane. The flow-induced layer undulations are in-phase between neighboring layers when the inter-lamellar interaction is sufficiently strong. Under these conditions, MLV formation can occur without significantly changing the inter-lamellar spacing. On the other hand, in the case of weak inter-lamellar interactions, the flow-induced undulations are not in-phase, and greater steric repulsion leads to an increase in the inter-lamellar spacing with shear rate. In this case, MLV formation occurs as the amplitude of the undulations gets larger and the steric interaction leads to in-phase undulations between neighboring membranes.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Y Kawabata
- Department of Chemistry, Tokyo Metropolitan University, Hachioji, Tokyo 192-0397, Japan
| | - R Bradbury
- Center for Exploration of Energy and Matter, Department of Physics, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana 47408, USA
| | - S Kugizaki
- Department of Chemistry, Tokyo Metropolitan University, Hachioji, Tokyo 192-0397, Japan
| | - K Weigandt
- NIST Center for Neutron Research, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899-6102, USA
| | - Y B Melnichenko
- Biology and Soft Matter Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831-6393, USA
| | - K Sadakane
- Faculty of Life and Medical Sciences, Doshisha University, Kyotanabe, Kyoto 610-0321, Japan
| | - N L Yamada
- Institute of Materials Structure Science, High Energy Accelerator Research Organization, Tokai 319-1106, Japan
| | - H Endo
- Institute of Materials Structure Science, High Energy Accelerator Research Organization, Tokai 319-1106, Japan
| | - M Nagao
- Center for Exploration of Energy and Matter, Department of Physics, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana 47408, USA
| | - H Seto
- Institute of Materials Structure Science, High Energy Accelerator Research Organization, Tokai 319-1106, Japan
| |
Collapse
|