Reversed micelles micro water pool

Reverse micelles are small (1-2 nm in diameter), spherical surfactant aggregates huilt in an apolar solvent (usually referred to as oil), whereby the polar heads form a polar core that can contain water - the so-called water pool. The connection with autopoiesis is historically important, because it was with the collaboration with Francisco Varela that the work started (in fact it began as a theoretical paper - see Luisi and Varela, 1990). The idea was this to induce a forced micro-compartmentalization of two reagents, A and B, which could react inside the boundary (and not outside) to yield as a product the very surfactant that builds the boundary (Figure 7.13). The product S would concentrate at the membrane interface, which increases its size. Since reverse micelles are usually thermodynamically stable in only one given dimension, this increase of the size-to-volume ratio would lead to more micelles. Thus the growth and multiplication would take place from within the structure of the spherically closed unit, be governed by the component production of the micellar structure itself, and therefore (as will be seen better in... 

There have been many studies devoted to characterization of these practically important systems. Reverse emulsion droplets have been used as chemical micro-reactors to produce nanosize inorganic and polymer particles with special properties that are not found in the bulk form (38-42). These microemulsion systems have also been a topic of research for biological systems and the AOT head groups have been found to influence the conformation of proteins and increase enzyme activity (43-6). The unique environment created in the small water pools of swollen reverse micelles allows for increased chemical reactivity. The increase in surface area with decreased in size of the droplets also can significantly increase reactivity by allowing greater contact of immiscible reactants. 

Direct micelles contain lyophilic component of surface-active substance, whereas the reverse micelles contain lyophobic one. The miceUes can be formed in the presence and absence of water. In the case of reverse miceUes, for instance, in the hydrocarbon medium, water is easily solubilized, forming a water pool . Its size is characterized by the ratio of the water and surfactant volumes. Thus, a limited amount of water inside the micelle determines the kinetics and thermodynamics of the nanoparticles formation in a small micro/nanoreactor volume. 

With the aid of surfactants, water can be dispersed in organic solvents or hydrophobic ILs, forming thermodynamically stable and optically transparent macro-homogeneous but micro-heterogeneous reversed micelles. Enzymes can be solubilized in the water pool and thus the deactivation of the enzymes by organic solvents or ILs can be greatly reduced. In addition to monodispersing an enzyme at... 

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