Recent developments in the characterisation of microemulsions

Microemulsions are becoming increasingly complex systems by containing more sophisticated surfactants, polymers, biomolecules, inorganic nanoparticles, etc. The detailed understanding of such more complex systems requires increasingly more refined and comprehensive characterisation. This is typically done by the combination of complementary techniques and is aided by the fact that several experimental methods have been improved (such as electron microscopy) in recent times, new ones have become available (such as fluorescence correlation spectroscopy), and the theoretical understanding of structural data is advancing. (C) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.