Cryo-TEM of CTAB micelles and microemulsions

Single-tailed surfactant molecules in aqueous solutions can associate into several different microstructural forms within a one-phase region of the phase diagram (Fig. 1). The molecules associate into globular aggregates called spherical micelles above a surfactant concentration called the critical micelle concentration, or cmc. At higher surfactant concentrations some surfactants will associate into rod-like micelles called cylindrical micelles. In systems containing ionic surfactants the transition from spherical to cylindrical micelles can be brought about at lower surfactant concentrations by adding an electrolyte. The electrolyte screens the electrostatic repulsion between surfactant head groups and allows formation of the lower mean curvature cylindrical microstructures. Micellar aggregates are equilibrium microstructures in which the nonpolar (often hydrocarbon or fluorocarbon) moieties of the surfactant molecules are shielded from the aqueous medium by the water-soluble moieties of the surfactant molecules. The solubilization of oil into the nonpolar micelle interior produces an aqueous solution of oil swollen micelles, i.e., a microemulsion.