Self-Division of Macroscopic Droplets: Partitioning of Nanosized Cargo into Nanoscale Micelles

摘要

Reactions that produce surface-active compounds at the liquid-liquid interface can divide large droplets into smaller ones (Figure 1). This effect of "autopoietic" self-reproduction was originally studied by Luisi and co-workers in the context of self-dividing micelles and inverse micelles. This pioneering work was based on two-phase (oil-water) systems, in which surfactants were created at the liquid-liquid inter- face by either basic hydrolysis of esters or anhydrides in the oil phase by hydroxide ions in the aqueous phase, or by long-chain alcohol oxidation at the liquid-liquid interface by permanganate ions in the aqueous phase.