Amphiphilic block copolymers in oil-water-surfactant mixtures: efficiency boosting, structure, phase behaviour and mechanism

The effect of amphiphilic block copolymers on the phase behaviour and structure of ternary microemulsions in water, oil and non-ionic surfactant mixtures is reviewed. Recent experiments have revealed that the addition of small amounts of polyethylenepropylene-polyethyleneoxide block copolymer to the ternary systems leads to a dramatic increase in the volumes of oil and water solubilized into a bicontinuous microemulsion for a given surfactant volume fraction. While phase diagrams directly show the power of the amphiphilic block copolymers as efficiency boosters, the theoretical analysis in terms of bending energy discloses the mechanism for the efficiency boosting as due to the variation of the surfactant film curvature elasticity by tethered polymers in the form of mushrooms at the interface. Neutron scattering experiments employing a high-precision two-dimensional contrast variation technique confirm this picture and demonstrate that the polymer molecules uniformly decorate the surfactant film.