Interfacial curvature elastic moduli

We have already mentioned in the Introduction that microemulsions containing long-chain amphiphiles can be described by interfacial models. These models are based on the curvature elasticity of the amphiphilic monolayer and thus contain as material parameters the bending rigidity and the saddle-splay modulus. These parameters have to be calculated from a more microscopic model. A somewhat similar problem occurs in the... 

The exceptional interfacial properties of amphiphilic molecules are due to the opposing affinities of their polar and hydrophobic parts with respect to water. A remarkable consequence of these properties is that we can produce transparent and macroscopically homogeneous mixtures of oil and water, the so-called microemulsions. Such thermodynamically stable mixtures are not, of course, homogeneous on microscopic scales. Here we can observe water and oil microdomains separated by amphiphilic molecular films. Stability and structure of microemulsions are determined by properties of this amphiphilic film in particular, by the elasticity of its curvature. The relevant parameters are its elastic modulus K and its spontaneous curvature cq. 

Microemulsion phase behavior and microstructure depend on two interfacial parameters, namely the spontaneous film curvature (the optimal curvature that the surfactant film attains) and the elasticity (bending modulus) of the surfactant film (Attwood, 1994 Sottmann and... 

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