Solubilization efficiency boosting by amphiphilic block co-polymers in microemulsions

The efficiency of an amphiphile in solubilizing water and oil into a thermodynamically stable mixture is limited by the extensions of liquid crystalline phases. New results on microemulsions from polymer blends show that almost the same holds for high molecular weight systems. This review compares these findings. It also draws attention to the effect of homopolymers and hydrophobically modified polymers on microemulsions, emphasizing the importance of polymer adsorption on the membrane properties. The recently-discovered efficiency boosting of amphiphilic block co-polymers in highly dilute microemulsions is one useful consequence of the effect. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.