Speaker
Description
In contrast to aqueous solutions, the self-assembly of amphiphilic surfactants in organic, apolar solvents remains relatively poorly understood. For example, the nature of critical micellization concentration (CMC), or whether small amounts of apolar solvent, such as water, are needed for assembly, remain under debate. Even more curious is the response of surfactant aggregates in oils in electric field: reverse micelles carry charge, but mechanisms remain open. Regardless, oil-based colloidal systems self-assembly and non-equilibrium dynamics are crucial in many pharmaceutical formulations, treatment of bio-oils, but also in designing advanced materials with emergent structure formation. In this talk, I bring together what we have learned studying surfactant aggregation in apolar solvents based on diverse modelling approaches in biosurfactant – apolar solvent systems. The modelling approaches range from atomistic detail to particle-based mesoscale modelling approaches and thermodynamic modelling.
[1] M. Vuorte, S. Kuitunen, P. R. Van Tassel, M. Sammalkorpi, J. Colloid Interface Sci. 630, 783 (2023).
[2] M. Vuorte, S. Kuitunen, M. Sammalkorpi, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 571, 21840 (2021).
[3] M. Vuorte, S. Vierros, S. Kuitunen, M. Sammalkorpi, J. Colloid Interface Sci. 571, 55 (2020).
[4] S. Vierros and M. Sammalkorpi, ACS omega 4 (13), 15581 (2019).
[5] S. Vierros, M. Österberg, and M. Sammalkorpi, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 20 (42), 27192 (2018).
