MICELLE FORM AND STABILITY

Calculations of the elastic bending energy (E(bend)) Of several equilibrium forms of micelles belonging to a binary water-surfactant system (O/W) have been performed in a wide range of micelle volumes by using the surfactant parameter model proposed by Hyde (see ref. [4]) The micelle forms, differently from the vesicle forms, obey restrictive requirements concerning the structure of their bulk, so the micelle forms are, to a large extent, predictable a priori. Each form shows a distinctive E(bend)/micelle volume curve which depends on the value of the surfactant parameter p(0) characteristic of the amphiphilic molecule in absence of external stresses. Transitions between different forms can occur - in principle - when and where two of these curves intersect each other.