ASYMMETRIC WATER-OIL-AMPHIPHILE MIXTURES - LAMELLAR PHASES AND DROPLET MICROEMULSIONS

A continuum microscopic model for symmetric amphiphilic mixtures, is g eneralized by considering explicitly water-oil asymmetry, through the interactions between amphiphiles and water and oil. The phase diagram, including lamellar phases, and the properties of water-oil interfaces are studied, using an approximate free energy density-functional, for a wide range of amphiphilic interactions. We also consider the struct ure and stability of spherical micelles and study the dilute micellar regime. By combining the microscopic density-functional description wi th the phenomonologic Helfrich elastic free energy, we calculate the e lastic properties of the amphiphilic film. Our results for the elastic constant, k(s) = 2k + (k) over bar, are compared with experimental da ta. (C) 1998 American Institute of Physics.