A novel reverse worm-like micelle from a lecithin/sucrose fatty acid ester/oil system

We report a novel method for forming reverse worm-like micelles in nonpolar organic solvents. This method requires the addition of trace amounts of a sucrose fatty acid ester (SFE), in addition to lecithin and a nonpolar organic solvent. The region in which these micelles formed increased with lecithin concentration and hydrophobicity of SFE. In addition, zero-shear viscosity (eta (0)) of the reverse worm-like micelles increased rapidly upon addition of SFE, reaching 1-3 million times the viscosity of n-decane. Furthermore, the change in eta (0) was examined in detail by performing dynamic viscoelasticity measurements. Results showed that the eta (0) of solution increased upon addition of SFE because both the length and number of reverse worm-like micelles increased along with SFE concentration.