MONTE-CARLO SIMULATIONS OF MICROEMULSIONS

We describe the Larson-Stauffer model of a microemulsion and report results which strongly indicate that this is a successful model. Particular attention is paid to the structure of the surfactant which appears to be the decisive factor for modelling a microemulsion. We study the kinetics of micelle formation, the miscibility gap of oil and water, the coexistence of various phases, the segregation of three phases (oil rich, water rich and the bicontinuous surfactant rich) as a function of temperature, the relative interaction strengths of hydrophobic and hydrophilic monomers of the surfactant with oil and water, and concentration of surfactant. The model is capable of describing most of the observed properties of a microemulsion. In addition, we are now in the position to study the properties of ''designer'' surfactant, e.g., ''bola-form''.