Formation of Reversed Vesicles in a Mixture of Ionic and Nonionic Amphiphiles

Reversed vesicle formation was investigated for a mixture of nonionic (monooleoyldiglycerol; DGMO) and ionic (sodium dodecyl sulfate ; SDS) amphiphiles. Following the addition of a small amount of water to the mixture in dodecane, a lamellar liquid crystal is separated from the oil phase. Each crystall swelled due to considerable absorption of oil. Reversed vesicles, which formed by shaking the two-phase system of oil and liquid crystalline phase, were detected by a microscope equipped with a video-enhanced system. The vesicles showed considerable distribution in size, from submicron to 1020 μ m units. The particles were thus concluded to consist of closed reversed bimolecular layers, and inside and outside beeing covered with oil.