Journal of Chemical Physics, Vol.109, No.3, 1152-1161, 1998
Asymmetric water-oil-amphiphile mixtures: Lamellar phases and droplet microemulsions
A continuum microscopic model for symmetric amphiphilic mixtures, is generalized by considering explicitly water-oil asymmetry, through the interactions between amphiphiles and water and oil. The phase diagram, including lamellar phases, and the properties of water-oil interfaces are studied, using an approximate free energy density-functional, for a wide range of amphiphilic interactions. We also consider the structure and stability of spherical micelles and study the dilute micellar regime. By combining the microscopic density-functional description with the phenomonologic Helfrich elastic free energy, we calculate the elastic properties of the amphiphilic film. Our results for the elastic constant, k(s) = 2k + (k) over bar, are compared with experimental data.