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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: 45] [Impact Index Per Article: 15.0] [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.
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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
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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.
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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
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Bier M, Mars J, Li H, Mezger M. Salt-induced microheterogeneities in binary liquid mixtures. Phys Rev E 2017; 96:022603. [PMID: 28950527 DOI: 10.1103/physreve.96.022603] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/17/2017] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Abstract
The salt-induced microheterogeneity (MH) formation in binary liquid mixtures is studied by small-angle x-ray scattering (SAXS) and liquid state theory. Previous experiments have shown that this phenomenon occurs for antagonistic salts, whose cations and anions prefer different components of the solvent mixture. However, so far the precise mechanism leading to the characteristic length scale of MHs has remained unclear. Here, it is shown that MHs can be generated by the competition of short-ranged interactions and long-ranged monopole-dipole interactions. The experimental SAXS patterns can be reproduced quantitatively by fitting to the derived correlation functions without assuming any specific model. The dependency of the MH structure with respect to ionic strength and temperature is analyzed. Close to the demixing phase transition, critical-like behavior occurs with respect to the spinodal line in the phase diagram.
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Affiliation(s)
- Markus Bier
- Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems, Heisenbergstrasse 3, 70569 Stuttgart, Germany.,Institute for Theoretical Physics IV, University of Stuttgart, Pfaffenwaldring 57, 70569 Stuttgart, Germany
| | - Julian Mars
- Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, Ackermannweg 10, 55128 Mainz, Germany.,Institute of Physics and MAINZ Graduate School, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Staudingerweg 7, 55128 Mainz, Germany
| | - Hailong Li
- Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, Ackermannweg 10, 55128 Mainz, Germany
| | - Markus Mezger
- Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, Ackermannweg 10, 55128 Mainz, Germany.,Institute of Physics and MAINZ Graduate School, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Staudingerweg 7, 55128 Mainz, Germany
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Winkler R, Buchecker T, Hastreiter F, Touraud D, Kunz W. PPh4Cl in aqueous solution – the aggregation behavior of an antagonistic salt. Phys Chem Chem Phys 2017; 19:25463-25470. [DOI: 10.1039/c7cp02677c] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
The aggregation behavior of the antagonistic salt PPh4Cl was investigated. This salt was found to be an excellent hydrotrope which does not aggregate in binary aqueous solutions or in a ternary one, upon the addition of the exemplary hydrophobic molecule DR-13.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robert Winkler
- Institute of Physical and Theoretical Chemistry
- University of Regensburg
- 93040 Regensburg
- Germany
| | - Thomas Buchecker
- Institute of Inorganic Chemistry
- University of Regensburg
- 93040 Regensburg
- Germany
| | - Florian Hastreiter
- Institute of Organic Chemistry
- University of Regensburg
- 93040 Regensburg
- Germany
| | - Didier Touraud
- Institute of Physical and Theoretical Chemistry
- University of Regensburg
- 93040 Regensburg
- Germany
| | - Werner Kunz
- Institute of Physical and Theoretical Chemistry
- University of Regensburg
- 93040 Regensburg
- Germany
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Prevost S, Lopian T, Pleines M, Diat O, Zemb T. Small-angle scattering and morphologies of ultra-flexible microemulsions. J Appl Crystallogr 2016; 49:2063-2072. [PMID: 27980512 PMCID: PMC5139994 DOI: 10.1107/s1600576716016150] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/12/2016] [Accepted: 10/11/2016] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Three-component fluids can exhibit structured density fluctuations, and their small-angle scattering patterns present similarities to those of classical microemulsions. One general analytical expression with two additive contributions (one for the two immiscible fluids and a smaller one for a structured fluid) allows the whole phase diagram to be mapped in the single-phase domain. The phase diagrams of ternary mixtures of partly miscible solvents containing a hydrotropic co-solvent exhibit a variable miscibility gap and one critical point. This work investigates the entire monophasic region far from and near to the miscibility gap in octan-1-ol/ethanol/water, for which ultra-flexible microemulsions (UFMEs) are observed by small-angle scattering techniques. SWAXS (combined small- and wide-angle X-ray scattering) allows the elucidation of these types of structure. Three distinct areas can be identified in the phase diagram, with scattering data resembling those from direct, bicontinuous and reverse local structures. These UFMEs are far more polydisperse than their surfactant-based counterparts. Water-rich and solvent-rich domains are only delimited by a small excess of hydrotrope, instead of a well defined surfactant layer of fixed area per molecule. It is shown that all scattering spectra obtained for the nanostructured compositions can be modelled by a simple unified analytical model composed of two uncorrelated contributions. The main one is the Ornstein–Zernike formula for composition fluctuations which gives information about the pseudo-phase domain size. The second is a Lorentzian that captures the structure of at least one of the coexisting pseudo-phases. No Porod law can be measured in the SAXS domain. The proposed expression gives access to two characteristic sizes as well as one inter-aggregate distance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sylvain Prevost
- ESRF - The European Synchrotron, 71 avenue des Martyrs, 38000 Grenoble, France
| | - Tobias Lopian
- Institut de Chimie Séparative de Marcoule (ICSM), UMR 5257 (CEA/CNRS/UM2/ENCSM), 30207 Bagnols-sur-Cèze, France; Institute of Physical and Theoretical Chemistry, University of Regensburg, 93040 Regensburg, Germany
| | - Maximilian Pleines
- Institut de Chimie Séparative de Marcoule (ICSM), UMR 5257 (CEA/CNRS/UM2/ENCSM), 30207 Bagnols-sur-Cèze, France; Institute of Physical and Theoretical Chemistry, University of Regensburg, 93040 Regensburg, Germany
| | - Olivier Diat
- Institut de Chimie Séparative de Marcoule (ICSM), UMR 5257 (CEA/CNRS/UM2/ENCSM), 30207 Bagnols-sur-Cèze, France
| | - Thomas Zemb
- Institut de Chimie Séparative de Marcoule (ICSM), UMR 5257 (CEA/CNRS/UM2/ENCSM), 30207 Bagnols-sur-Cèze, France
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