Amphiphilic aggregates

The phase separation process at late times t is usually governed by a law of the type R t) oc f, where R t) is the characteristic domain size at time t, and n an exponent which depends on the universality class of the model and on the conservation laws in the dynamics. At the presence of amphiphiles, however, the situation is somewhat complicated by the fact that the amphiphiles aggregate at the interfaces and reduce the interfacial tension during the coarsening process, i.e., the interfacial tension depends on the time. This leads to a pronounced slowing down at late times. In order to quantify this effect, Laradji et al. [217,222] have proposed the scaling ansatz... 

Lindman, B., Wennerstrdm, H. Micelles. Amphiphile Aggregation in Aqueous Solution, in Topics in Current Chemistry (ed. Boschke, F. L.), p. 3, Berlin—Heidelberg—New York, Springer 1980... 

Lindman, B., and Wennerstrdm, H. Micelles. Amphiphile Aggregation in Aqueous. 

Lindman, B. and H. V fennerstrom. 1980. Micelles. Amphiphile aggregation in aqueous soHurtpDnCurr. 

The formation of amphiphilic aggregates can be seen as a compromise between the tendency of alkyl chains to avoid contact with water and the strong affinity of the polar groups to water. A thermodynamic description of micellar systems should thus include both these aspects. The electrostatic effects are discussed in Sect. 6 so we will concentrate here on the interactions involving the nonpolar part of the amphi-phile. 

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