Kinetics of morphological changes in surfactant systems

Equilibrium structures of surfactants have been studied in much more detail than morphological changes that can occur under non-equilibrium conditions. Recent experiments attempt to analyse pathways of such morphological transitions, in particular for micellar kinetics, solubilisation and formation/break-up of vesicles. Significant progress was made with respect to the achievable time-resolution in such structural investigations, which allows to identify intermediate structures. Understanding and control of the dynamics of surfactant systems is of fundamental importance for many applications of surfactants. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.