Aggregation processes in dense reverse micelles

The aggregative phenomena taking place in gel-forming and not gel-forming reverse micelles are investigated and compared. In particular, the different growth processes of the micelles (spherical in Aerosol OT based systems and cylindrical in lecithin-based systems) are monitored by the different diffusional properties of the inner-core water molecules, as seen by the neutronic probe in a quasielastic neutron scattering experiment. The different intermicellar aggregation processes taking place in the two kinds of systems have been evidenced through the study of the concentration dependence of the electric conductivity. The results seem to support the proposed idea that the structure of the lecithin gel consists of a percolated network of branched cylinders instead of (as previously proposed) a random entangled network of (not interconnected) polymer-like micelles.