Structural and Dynamic Properties of Lecithin-Alcohol Based w/o Microemulsions: A Luminescence Quenching Study
Water-in-oil microemulsions have been made with lecithin in the presence of some alcohols. The structure of the microemulsions has been studied by steady-state and time-resolved analysis of the luminescence quenching of Ru(bipy)32+ by Fe(CN)63-. We found that well-defined microemulsions can be made only in the presence of short-chain alcohols such as propanol-1 and butanol-1. There exists a threshold for water content in order to obtain typical reverse micelles. Thus in the case of propanol-1, water/surfactant ratio wo should be above 20. By varying water content in the range 20 < wo </= 40, the microemulsion droplets suffer dramatic structural changes and the system passes through a percolation threshold. Copyright 1997 Academic Press. Copyright 1997Academic Press
Avramiotis
S
Institute of Biological Research and Biotechnology, National Hellenic Research Foundation, 48 Vas. Constantinou Avenue, Athens, 11635, Greece
Bekiari
V
Lianos
P
Xenakis
A