MICROEMULSIONS WITH MIXTURES OF NONIONIC AND IONIC AMPHIPHILES

We present the results of the first in a series on the effect of ionic surfactants on the phase behavior of mixtures of water, oil, and nonionic amphiphiles, with the latter being the majority component in the mixture of the two surfactants. Adding small amounts of single-tailed sodium alkyl sulfates halves the amount of n-alkyl polyglycol ether required for homogenizing equal masses of water and alkanes in that the three-phase body disappears, making room for a rather wide homogeneous region at low surfactant concentrations.