title: Nonequilibrium water transport in a nonionic microemulsion system.
abstract: We used microsecond time scale atomistic simulations to study the relaxation dynamics of the microemulsion water/octane/C(9)E(3) system. In order to determine what transport mechanism occurs under the conditions of surfactant excess, we studied the system under a wide range of temperatures (7-88 °C) and showed that the surfactant acts as an effective solvent for water and carries out passive water transport through oil. Interestingly, most of surfactant-solubilized water is situated between surfactant and oil layers and is not homogeneously distributed in the surfactant-oil slab. With raising the temperature, the larger aggregates are allowed to travel through the oil layer, increasing overall water presence in oil. Also, our cluster analysis indicates that most complexes do not form a dense water core, supporting the "hydrated surfactants" transport mechanism.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599, United States.
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Minakova
authors.forename: Alexey
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Savelyev
authors.forename: Garegin A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Papoian