MICROEMULSIONS AS AN EMERGING TECHNOLOGY

Since the discovery of microemulsions by Schulman an co-workers in the early 1940's [1], the applications of microemulsions have extended to numerous technological areas from tertiary oil recovery to nanopartic le synthesis. The availability of high interfacial area, combined with thermodynamic stability and the ability to solubilize otherwise immis cible liquids have led to the use of microemulsions in cosmetics, phar maceutics, lubrication, food technology, agricultural sprays, coatings , environmental remediation, cleaning, combustion, chemical synthesis, microporous media synthesis, enhanced reaction kinetics, and chemical analysis. This paper discusses the potential applications of microemu lsions in emerging technologies.